Shattered Realities
by Cryssy-miu
Summary: "It was at this point that Jasper finally looked up. Gone was the malice from her face and the murder in her eyes. Emotions flashed across her face all at once; shock, fright...and then a devastating realization." Nothing will ever be the same for anyone after Jasper is found in Kindergarden and a dark secret is unearthed. But Steven won't let anyone face pain alone. R&R
1. Chapter 1

_(A/N: Created off the popular theory that Jasper is a fusion! I think it's entirely possible...but what if she didn't know it either? This is meant to be a one shot, but I'll see if I have any way to continue it. Enjoy~!)_

* * *

Steven wasn't sure he ever wanted to return to Kindergarden after the things he had seen. He already knew it wasn't a happy place the day Amethyst brought him here, but after the horrors they witnessed last time they were here...

"This place gives me the creeps." he shuddered. He squeaked when Amethyst grabbed him from behind.

"Ouuuu, scared big guy?" Amethyst teased. "Scared of some creepy gem monster coming after you? Or Jasper? Or Peridot? Ohhh, they're gonna _eat_ you!" She tickled the child and he squirmed about, laughing.

"Stop it you two!" Garnet scolded. "This is serious! There's no telling what we'll wind up finding this time! Peridot has likely been back here since we have—and since Malachite unfused...Peridot may not be the only one here."

"You mean Jasper?" Steven looked fearful at the thought. "At least we managed to save Lapis." He thought back to his friend and still remembered the shock they all felt when she washed up on the beach, her dress torn and her body weak. Her gem was currently tucked securely under the covers of his bed. He hadn't wanted to leave her, but taking her defenceless gem to a place where she'd be vulnerable to any danger was a bad idea.

"Yes," Pearl agreed. "But with Jasper on the loose that could mean even more trouble for us... We have to be on our guard, keep diligent. With the clusters running free in Peridot's chambers..." She trailed off.

"It's dangerous for all of us," Garnet agreed. "Steven, you are to stay behind us at all times." They entered the transportation pod. "Do you understand?" The child nodded.

They landed at the panel and already were able to see the white mane of hair hunched over the buttons.

"Damnit, how does she do this thing?" Jasper cursed as she glared at the many levers, buttons, and screens. "Would be so much easier if the dork was with me..." She was a soldier, not a technology freak like Peridot was. ...She didn't know what she was doing. She was supposed to do logs, right?

"Uh..." She pressed a button to the speaker. "Log 1, the experiments seem to be successful, that I've seen. There's still more in progress, and I know there's supposed to be some roaming around here..."

"JASPER!"

Jasper whirled around to see her enemies in battle-ready positions, weapons sheathed, with the pathetic little Rose Quartz creature hiding behind Garnet's legs. "Oh it's you all. I was kind of hoping you'd show up." She rammed her fist into her palm. "I need some target practice and some punching bags to warm up on after being imprisoned in that cesspool you call an ocean."

"Bring it on Big Shot!" Amethyst snorted. "We'll take you on any time! I was hoping to find someone to BEAT UP TOO!" She lunged at Homeworld gem and all hell broke loose. Weapons clanged, things smashed, and hatred spewed as the group of gems began to viciously attack each other.

"Child's play!" Jasper snorted as her helmet rammed forward and smashed into Pearl's sword. "That little ocean brat was more of a challenge then you!"

Garnet snarled, her gauntlets baring with absolute fury. "How much of a challenge is THIS?!" Her fists rammed forward, and splintered into one of the pillars as Jasper ducked the punch. They group ignored the falling debris until a chilling shriek made their blood run cold. All they saw was a blur of colors and tangled limbs as the enraged mutant burst out.

The gems could only watch on in mute horror as the deformed mass of shattered remains suddenly lunged forward and consumed the orange gem before their very eyes, sending her into the mass. Orange bled into the blob of screaming and suddenly Jasper's own screeches did as well.

"Holy smokes!" Amethyst staggered back with her comrades, and Garnet shoved Steven behind her.

"We've got to get out of here!" She grabbed the child's hand but he immediately yanked away.

"No! Garnet! We can't just leave her like this!" Steven cried. His eyes darted back and forth between the nightmare monster and the panicked gems. "We've got to get her out!" The screams of the separate voices were chilling. "It sounds painful!"

"Good and she deserves it!" Amethyst returned. Her whip wrapped around the child to hold him there. "We gotta go!"

"NO!" He wormed around desperately in the sparkling binds and looked up to the taller gem with tears in his eyes. "It's wrong! Garnet, please, save her!" He begged. "Th-this isn't a fate that should happen to anyone!" His voice broke, wide tearful eyes staring pleadingly into the leader's. His earnest face was enough to break her.

Untangling the boy from the rope Garnet shoved him into Pearl's arms and then approached the mutant. It writhed in confusion and terror in front of her, a mass of eyes and two very discernible, surprisingly frightened golden ones. Garnet took a deep breath and reeled back with her gauntlets, punching the creature.

With a final agonizing shriek the creature exploded into several smashed up pieces of gems, each taking a humanoid form before dissipating into nothing. The last gem to fall from the mass was Jasper...but the gemstone was in separate shards.

"NO!" Steven cried, fearing she might be dead. To the gems' utter disbelief the three shards flashed a white light, and took on several small shapes of mutated looking silhouettes, before the jasper reformed and Jasper fell to the ground in a heap.

"What on earth?" Pearl gasped, all of their eyes staring at the orange form. "She's a fusion...?"

"No." Garnet shook her head quietly. "She's a _forced_ fusion..."

It was at this point that Jasper finally looked up. The look on the buff gem's face was among nothing that Steven had ever seen before in his short time of knowing the muscled gem. Gone was the malice from her face and the murder in her eyes. Emotions flashed across her face all at once; shock, fright...and then a devastating realization.

The Crystal Gems stood on their guard with their weapons drawn, but they made no attempt to attack. Scepticism crossed their faces, but there was something entirely on Garnet's. Sympathy...and sadness.

Jasper's golden eyes trailed down to the shard on the middle of her face and slowly a hand reached to the gem, brushing over her face like she couldn't believe what what it was. ...And for the first time she really couldn't. This wasn't possible. She looked back at the gems, realizing with horror that she had an audience. She grabbed a large piece of equipment with a ferocious snarl. Garnet reached out and grabbed Steven protectively, but just when they were sure she was about to lob the machinery at them, the machine slammed into the wall behind them, causing the rocks to crumble to the ground. Jasper bolted to her feet and out of the opening.

Blind sided, Steven pulled away from Garnet and rushed over to the opening. "Jasper!" he shouted. "Jasper come back!" The large orange gem ignored every shout and clambered up the rocky cliff side of Kindergarden.

"Steven!" Garnet jumped out to grab the boy but the child dodged her attempts to grab him and barrelled through the opening Jasper created, latching to the rocky wall. It was like scaling a mountain and he had no idea how she did it so easily.

"Steven, get down from there right now!" Garnet shouted up at him. Pearl looked ready to go into a state of catatonics and Garnet looked angry enough to tear him apart. He gulped as he continued to blatantly defy her orders. This was ridiculously hard to do.

"No I can't! I gotta..." He shook his head. "I gotta make sure she's okay!" His feet slipped and he heard Pearl give a shrill shriek as parts of debris gave way from the ledge and Steven began to fall.

A rose bubble came up and encased the boy as he teetered on one of the edges of the cliff, pushing the bubble forward so the weight pressed him against the wall. Scrambling onto all fours he lunged back at the wall and was stunned to find himself starting to scale it inside the bubble. "Whoa!" There wasn't the time to marvel at that right now though, so for now Steven kept running up the wall.

"Steven!"

He didn't even want to comprehend the amount of trouble he was going to be in from this. _I'm going to lose tv for forever!_ He sniffled dramatically, tearing up at the devastating prospect. But he couldn't focus on that, so he just kept running up the wall, his scrabbling feet pushing off the cliff like a ramp and sending him hurtling up into the air.

"Whoa!" The child yelped and threw himself against the side of his bubble, tossing himself into the dirt of the cliff's edge. The rose bubble disappeared and he started looking around. He could hear his family's voices shouting at him from below. "Jasper!"

He had never been on top of Kindergarden before. It was not less desolate and frightening then the bottom of it. It seemed even lonelier somehow. Steven walked until he saw a mane of long white hair, picked up casually by a breeze. "Jasper!"

The orange gem had her back turned to him and was on her knees in the dirt. Her confident form was hunched in a way Steven never thought he'd see her as. Quiet...broken. The danger in her eyes had been replaced by bewilderment. She looked utterly lost and dazed.

"Jasper...?" The large gem didn't respond and Steven was certain that she didn't even realize he was there until he made the mistake of touching her arm.

She sprung to life with a vicious snarl and the boy squeaked as she summoned her helmet into place, smashing the spot he would have been if he hadn't rolled away. "Wait!" He held up his hands in surrender, but she charged again, viciously. "Jasper!"

Her devastation channelled into the only emotion she really knew: rage. And the only target she had right now was him, so she continued the attack. She rammed at him again and again, but again and again Steven avoided her. That made her angrier. When she finally struck him his bubble came up and she bounced off it with an enraged scream.

"Jasper..." Steven began meekly. Jasper whirled away from him, her voice coming out in one fierce, hateful bark.

"BEAT IT, BRAT! BEFORE I CRUSH YOUR GEM UNDERNEATH MY FEET!" That might have been enough to scare Steven away if he didn't hear the crack to her voice and the way it broke from pain. Her form hunched again, staring down at the vast lands of the deactivated facility.

A moment passed and the wind blew through the air. Steven slowly shuffled forward. He looked down at the dirt and back up at the woman.

She sensed his presence still and her teeth bared. Large fists clenched in frustration. "What do you want?" she snapped, frustrated and pained. Why couldn't the little parasite just leave her alone?!

Steven shrunk underneath the glare of her golden eyes. He fiddled with his fingers. "You...you didn't know, did you?" he mumbled. Her shoulders hunched over before she bristled.

"Know?" She gave a furious and manic cackle. "Know what? That I'm nothing but a science project? That my entire existence and everything I've lived for is a lie? That I'm just a mash up of gems blended together? No." Her jaw set. "No I did not. I never knew that." Her fist slammed down on a rock and she smashed it to dust. The closer Steven looked the more he was sure that Jasper's golden eyes seemed a little glassy.

"I'm really sorry."

Jasper snarled and swiped at him, sending him onto his back. "I don't need any sympathy from YOU, Rose!" she seethed.

Hesitantly Steven got up and bravely scooted closer. He was so close in fact that his knee nearly brushed the larger one. "I...I'm not Rose Quartz," he said quietly. "I'm her son, Steven. St-Steven Universe." He held up his shirt. "I just have her gem! See?"

Jasper scowled at the pink gemstone and looked back out to the sky. "Oh, so that's where she went." It was quiet for a long moment. Both Jasper and Steven sat in silence, almost a rare tranquillity. It was so strange sitting next to the big scary gem and not have her try to do anything to him.

"Is this why you called fusion stupid?"

"No, I called fusion stupid because fusion IS stupid!" Jasper snarled. "Stupid and weak and pathetic! And now I definitely know why I never tried it!" But now she knew that she was a fusion... A forced together mash of other life forms. Just an experiment. Her knees came up to her chin, a rare and vulnerable position. She shut her eyes.

"But when fusion isn't a forced thing...it can be really beautiful," Steven told her, smiling.

"Don't start with the sappy crap," Jasper snarled. "It's what weaker gems do to hide the fact that they're too pathetic to make it on their own. It's just a cheater's way out instead of training in the military like an honorable warrior."

The child was quiet for a long moment. "Is that the only point to Homeworld? Is that the only thing that matters to them is strength? If all you do is fight then when is there ever the time to live and enjoy life?"

"We enjoy in the middle of our conquests," she said coldly. "After every successful battle, and every successful invasion."

"All you do is kill?" Steven's face fell. "Haven't you ever realized how wrong that is? Haven't you ever wanted to stop it?"

"You don't go against Yellow Diamond, brat," was all Jasper said. She jerked a thumb over to the bottom of the canyon. "Not unless you want to end up like those broken pieces of glass glued together." Her face fell. "Then again, that's what I am..."

"Fusion can still be incredible-"

"Countless gems on our planet have been SHOVED together against their will, ME INCLUDED! We're in the process of sticking the rest of the gems that died on this miserable earth together as well!" Jasper barked at him. "How could that possibly be beautiful?"

"It's not." Steven shook his head. "But fusion isn't just a military tactic. Why do you think Ruby and Sapphire are always fused together? We're not even under attack most of the time."

Jasper shook her head, brows furrowed deep. "I never understood. And I don't care."

"It's because they love each other." Steven smiled and Jasper's lips curled down in disgust. "They love each other so much that they don't want to be apart. They want to always be together as Garnet! I mean, sure Garnet I guess is obviously stronger 'cause she's a fusion—with cooler weapons maybe, but that's not why she does it."

The larger gem snorted. Her golden eyes glinted with bitterness. "I can assure you, I'm not fused out of _love,"_ she mocked. "I don't remember even being mashed together. In a...shameless display that I'm constantly belittling." She was disgusting. "How could they do this to me?" It was a ludicrous question. She knew what her planet was capable of, she remembered the daily thrashings and torture she watched other gems endure. But for some reason she still couldn't wrap her own head around the fact that...she was a fraud.

"Maybe it doesn't have to be so bad." He yelped as Jasper grabbed him by his short collar and yanked him to her face. Her bared fangs made him pale. Their faces were inches away from each other.

"I'M A MALGAMATION OF MUTANTS, YOU ROSE QUARTZ HUMANOID!" she roared at him. "HOW IS THAT NOT SO _BAD?!"_ Her angered scream nearly deafened him...but Steven could see the tears in the corner of her eyes. Her lips trembled and her eyes blinked rapidly, mouth drawn up tight. And somehow he stayed completely calm.

"Because it's not you." She glared at him questionably. "Fusions are different from the gems that make them. You're not a bunch of gems smashed together, and you're not one person. You're the best of what makes you up! Whatever makes you up, you're their strength! You're their bravery...and their scariness and meanness!" Jasper almost smirked. He smiled. "You're Jasper!" He pumped his fists excitedly. And you're an _experience!_ "

Jasper didn't respond, but she suddenly seemed less hateful. Maybe Steven had just gotten used to her scary face, but she almost looked less angry. She almost looked more...observing. She released her hold on his shirt collar and he tumbled to the ground, close to the edge. The moment he scrambled up, the ledge broke.

He fell in slow motion, unable to even properly react it all happened so fast. Debris fell with him, and suddenly Steven realized that someone had his arm. He couldn't believe it when he looked up.

Jasper yanked him up and tossed him onto the ledge beside her without a word. Steven just stared at her. She had saved him... He stood, his eyes starry with hope and confusion.

Jasper scowled down at him and jabbed a finger towards him. "Just this once, brat," she said coldly. This changed nothing... but maybe for a moment...they could see eye to eye.

"Steven!" The child turned when he heard his family call to him. They were closer, obviously almost to the top of the cliff. If they found Jasper they'd try to hurt her. She was their enemy, he knew that. She was bad and wanted to hurt the earth. He couldn't hope to be friends, as much as he wanted to. It hurt his heart so bad. He wanted to keep talking to her. Maybe he could make a difference, and make her see that the earth wasn't so bad...

The sounds of the gems drew near and the boy was conflicted. He was rooted to the spot with his desire to both stay with Jasper and go to his family. He didn't want them to find her. He didn't want them to think she kidnapped him. He didn't want her to die. He didn't want her to destroy the earth and be evil. He didn't know what he wanted.

Jasper stood up quietly and she turned away from him. "Your Crystal _Jokes_ are coming. And I've got stuff to do." She started to walk away without a word but Steven continued to stare back at her. He opened his mouth to call her back, but the words died on his tongue and he touched his arm, where she had grabbed him. He shut his eyes and they teared.

This was her way of thanking him. Even though she said it was just this once and even though they were still enemies, Steven still had hopes. Jasper saved him. Maybe one day...he could save her too.


	2. Chapter 2

Grounded. He knew he would be after defying Garnet's orders, but at least she hadn't banned him from tv again. Of course, even _Crying Breakfast Friends_ got boring after you were onto the second hour of it. He wanted to go outside, and he wanted to see Connie. Both were forbidden for about three days though. He wasn't even allowed to go grocery shopping with Pearl and Amethyst. It was a task that Pearl detested, but for Steven (and Amethyst) it was essential.

"I just want you to know that even though I'm really sorry that I disobeyed you, I'm not sorry for doing it. If that...makes any sense." He was in the living room with Garnet, dusting as she mopped. He shuffled back and forth awkwardly. "I don't apologize for going after Jasper."

He expected the woman to get angry at him. Instead she smiled and ruffled his hair. "I had a feeling you wouldn't."

"Do you think...she'll be okay?" Steven asked hesitantly. Garnet didn't say anything. "Do you feel bad for her?"

"Yes," the leader agreed. Steven couldn't tell, but from behind her visor she looked sad. "No matter who they are and what they've done, nobody deserves such a fate. Even someone as terrible as Jasper. When it comes down to it, the gems from Homeworld are only doing what they're dictated to do by Yellow Diamond."

"So she isn't really bad?"

Garnet shook her head. "She is. We may not have a choice bred on that planet, but she did have a choice when the rebellion started. She could have chosen our side. Instead she chose Homeworld's, even knowing that everything Homeworld did was evil. Some of us had the courage to break away. Others were too far gone... Jasper was one of them."

The boy's face fell a little. "Oh. Do you think...she has any chance now?"

"I don't know." Garnet shook her head. "I know you're worried about her..." She smiled. "You have a large, and wonderful heart. But Jasper's chance at redemption is the least of my concerns right now."

"Garnet...why do they do all of this?" He looked up sadly. "Why do they cause so much pain?"

She thread her fingers through his hair. "Oh Steven... If only the rest of the world was as pure hearted as you. Sometimes there is no good in things. Sometimes there are simply bad people that want to destroy. The world isn't all one color. There's black, there's white...and in the middle, there's gray."

"Homeworld is black?" Steven asked. Garnet's lips curled down.

"The blackest that there is. At least, parts of it are. The part that forced Jasper and probably countless more together."

"Where's the white?" Steven asked. "Us right?"

"Not even us. Even as Crystal Gems we did too much to this planet beforehand for us to be entirely blameless." She ruffled his hair. "Now it's just about making up for it, which we can at least start to do by protecting the planet your mother loved so much."

Steven was quiet for a moment. He played with his sandals. "What are we going to do about Jasper?" He looked up at Garnet with fear in his eyes. "We-we aren't gonna hurt her, right?"

"I hope not," Garnet said grimly. "But she's a threat Steven. No matter what's happened today, that hasn't changed. If she gives us reason to we'll have to incapacitate her some way." She put a calming hand on his head. "But we won't kill her."

"Maybe she'll change her mind and realize that Homeworld is a really bad place..." The child gave a yawn, his plump cheek resting against her leg. "And she'll fight with us."

Garnet shook her head and picked up the boy. "If she wouldn't back when the rebellion began I don't think she will now." She gave a serene smile as the boy's head fell against her chest. "Right now you need to sleep. You've had quite a day."

"I'm not tired," the boy mumbled petulantly into her shirt and Garnet chuckled softly as she plopped the youngster onto his bed. Steven scrambled for Lapis's gem the moment he saw it. He covered himself with the blanket and clutched the gem to him like a teddy bear.

"When Lapis wakes up I'm going to take her to The Big Donut," he yawned. "And buy her ocean scented candles so she feels more at home." He turned onto his side and his eyes shut.

* * *

 _He was pressing away at his gamecube controller at the start of the dream, playing as a small avatar on one of his favorite areas of "Animal Trails", surrounded by bunny and bear villagers._

 _"Beartrice!" he chirped at the screen as a maple colored bear showed up. "You're looking mighty fine today! I love your new stripe top! And are those new glasses?"_

 _The bear turned to him with a happy chirp. "Yes they are Steven! Thank you for noticing!" The bear suddenly climbed out of the screen with the bunnies and into the room. Steven giggled excitedly. "We've come to play!"_

 _"Okay great! Um we can go get pizza, or go to the arcade!" He giggled at the thought since these were game characters themselves._

 _"We want to do anything you do!"_

 _The mingle of dancing characters suddenly transformed and the bedroom disappeared. Steven yelped as his surroundings were suddenly filled with water. The child gave a gasp and held his breath. It felt like his lungs were going to burst until a bubble suddenly appeared around him. "Huh?" His eyes adjusted and the first thing he saw was the blue hair._

 _"Lapis!" The squeak that leaped from his lungs was the happiest sound he had ever made. "Lapis!" He put his hands up against the bubble excitedly. "Lapis, it's you!" The figure on the other side smiled and touched where his hands were on the bubble._

 _"Steven! What are you doing here?" Lapis grinned, just as excited and confused to see him. She looked healthier. Her dress was no longer torn and her blue skin was no longer marred with cuts. She was the same Lapis he freed from the mirror, only happier._

 _"I don't know!" Steven laughed. "I just went to sleep and next thing I knew, I was in the water! Is this the inside of your gem?"_

 _"Yes. " She floated there in the water, and Steven marvelled at just how free and happy she looked. For the first time in eons, she was no longer bound by chains. She took a deep breath of the water. The dew shaped gem on her back sparkled at the movement and her tidal wings flapped gently like a butterfly's._

 _"When are you going to come out?" He didn't want to rush her—he knew this sort of thing took time, but he was so eager to actually spend time with his friend. "Soon, right? Like, really soon?" So much for not rushing her._

 _Lapis chuckled. "I think so. I'm almost done regenerating." She shuddered. "Washed off the final remains of imprisonment. You'll see me soon."_

 _The boy nodded, bobbed up and down in the bubble as an impish grin crossed his face. "So wanna play?"_

 _Lapis blinked in confusion. "Play what? You're inside a bubble," she smirked. "I don't think there's much you can do from inside there." She straightened haughtily. "And I'm in my element right now. You have no hope of beating me in anything here." She was cut off as the bubble suddenly bumped into her side and she gaped at the cheeky boy._

 _"Oh, you asked for it, little boy!" She lunged up in the water and Steven shrieked and giggled, pushing up on the bubble so it glided through the water._

 _"Yay! Bubble tag!" He squealed and giggled as the gem reached for him with her finger tips, missing by an inch. The bubble was surprisingly more mobile then he thought it would be, rolling about like a soapy hamster ball. "Eat my bubbles, Lapis!"_

 _"I'm going to when I catch you!" The pair laughed and played like Steven always dreamed they would one day. It was a wish come true. It was just him and Lapis, in the peacefulness of the water._

 _"St-Steven!" Lapis's blue eyes suddenly became wide as dinner plates as she stared at something behind the child, and started to back away. She looked like she had seen a ghost, and Steven did not want to turn his head. "Steven look out!"_

 _Before he even whirled around he could feel a tremendous force sucking him backwards. He heard it too; it roared and slurped like an industrial drain and dragged him further and further away from Lapis. "What's happening?!" he cried, screaming at the sight of a giant gaping whirlpool. It was a black vortex that seemed to flood away into the unknown. That was even scarier. "Lapis!"_

 _The bubble he was in suddenly popped and he was tossed mercilessly into the swirling water, flushed away like someone pulled a handle on a toilet. The terrified gem above him screamed for him, but all he heard was the roaring water, until finally, Lapis and the water disappeared from view._

 _Steven held his breath in the water and shut his eyes. He didn't know where he was going to end up. He prayed it was his bed and that he'd wake up safe and warm with Lapis's gem next to him. With the rate his dreams went there was no telling where he was._

 _Water droplets echoed through his surroundings and even the atmosphere changed. It was not the cool, but safe sanctuary of Lapis's gem. Where ever he was...it felt ominous. He fell with a water drop and hit cold pavement below. It was pitch black; the only light that flooded in was a small barred window above._

 _"Lapis?" Steven called out. His voice echoed. Muted sounds of crying and screams echoed from the distance and Steven trembled. He looked around. "Lapis?" From in the darkness, Steven heard a shift on the gravel. There was a small, hunched form against the wall. "...Lapis?"_

 _Golden eyes met his, and the cracked, orange jasper on her face glinted in the light._

 _"...Jasper?"_

 _The small gem, around Amethyst's size scrambled back against the wall. Her tiny fangs bared in uncertainty and fright. "Who are you?" she growled, face blazing. "Speak up!"_

 _"I-I'm Steven," the boy stammered. He held up his shirt and the rose quartz shone. "I'm a gem just like you." It was then he noticed the heavy chains on her wrists. "Are you okay? What happened to you?"_

 _"How did you get in here?" Jasper demanded. She suddenly cried out in pain, her body and her fragmented gem flickering like a bad tv signal. "Argh!" She screeched in agony and flickered into a white light. The cracked gem began to slowly mend and Jasper's face contorted in pain._

 _"What's going on?" Steven cried, watching as she spasmed against the ground in pain._

 _"The fusion..." Jasper grit her teeth and gripped her head, back arching in agony. "It's almost done. AUGH!" Her form glitched again. Red stripes began to form up her arm._

 _"Fusion..." Steven gasped. The cracked gems... "They fused you?" Jasper stared at him as if he had three heads._

 _"Of course they did, you idiot!" she snapped. "You're in the fusion chamber!"_

 _"The..." A feeling of utter horror crept up Steven's spine. "The fusion chamber?" He listened closer to the screams. They were more close-by then he thought. Screams, young screams of agony rippled through the air. He could hear the frantic pulling of chains and the way they dragged on the ground. "NO!" Tears filled the boy's eyes and he trembled. "Why are they doing this?!"_

 _"You really don't know anything," Jasper scoffed. "You must be a newborn. They fuse together weaker gems sometimes instead of recyling them. If they think they have the potential to be good weapons they'll do it. Either that or they'll break down the gems to use them for recycling."_

 _"Recycled...? That's so horrible! Don't they realize the pain they're causing other gems?!"_

 _Jasper gave a bark of laughter. "And you think that matters to them? They want their warriors and their war machines and they'll do whatever it takes to get them."_

 _"Why are you in a cage and ch-chained?"_

 _"They keep you in a cage until you're stabilized," Jasper muttered. "Some gems go berserk during this process and just attack anything. Others just scream so much from the pain and hurt themselves trying to get out. Not many survive the fusion process. The ones that do are removed from the cages and put into training when they're ready."_

 _Steven whimpered and let out a sob. "Not many survive?" He clawed at his ears at the sounds of crying and screaming all around him. He reached for the chains, yanked at them desperately. They rattled and clanged, but stayed stubbornly cemented to the wall. He had to do something. He had to get her out!_

 _Jasper laughed sarcastically. "You think I haven't tried that? I've tried everything I can. Biting them, yanking at them. It's no use. They're proofed for gems. We aren't able to break them. I'm stuck in here, and it looks like you are too."_

 _"No, I can break this!" Hope fluttered in his chest. "I'm a half gem! Gem-proof stuff doesn't work on me because I'm part human!" He twisted at the chains, and to his relief, he saw they were starting to glow and crack._

 _Suddenly, Jasper reached out and yanked him forward._ _"Stay in the dark!" she hissed and pushed the boy up against the wall as two pairs of footsteps drew near. Two gems. One had shoulder length black hair, a black gemstone glinting on her shoulder. Her eyes were as friendly as a hungry wolf. The other gem reminded him of a porcupine. A yellow one. Her hair was jagged in all different angles, like a lethal star. The symbol on her chest...was a yellow diamond. Steven felt his knees go weak._

 _"How are the fusions doing, Onyx?" Yellow Diamond's voice chilled him almost as much as the cold cell._

 _"So far seven out of twenty have survived," Onyx responded, looking down at a chart in her hand. "This one..." She gestured towards Jasper. "This one seems to show the most promise."_

 _Yellow Diamond was just inches away from the bars now and Steven whimpered until Jasper painfully jammed her elbow into his ribs. The leader's eyes burned into the boy's soul with more evil then he had ever seen. A cold smirk snaked across her lips. "Excellent. Yes, I had high hopes for that one. Enroll her into training tomorrow." Jagged claws reached out and caressed the heavy chains. "You're going to be a powerful warrior..."_

 _"NO!" Steven cried out suddenly in a panic, wrenching away from the orange gem and stumbling against the wall. It suddenly gave way to total darkness and the boy just kept running. He ran and ran and ran until he slammed into what felt like a large tree trunk. He slammed back onto the ground, face throbbing. The tree trunk moved, and it was orange._

 _"The hell are you doing back here?" Jasper barked down at him, annoyed and confused. He was back in Kindergarden again, in Peridot's control panel. All the terrified boy could see was Yellow Diamond's cold grin beating at his memory._

 _Where is she?!" He stumbled against the panel like a spooked raccoon, knocking over Peridot's papers and reports. "Where am I?!"_

 _Jasper stared at the boy and snarled. "What do you mean where are you? The same place you intruded your bratty self earlier! I gave you a free pass last time, but I might not be so nice this time!"_

 _The child was paper white and shook like a leaf. Tears fell from his trembling cheeks, overwhelming anguish taking over. "I'm sorry!" he sobbed. "I—I couldn't stop it! I-I tried! B-but there were so much chains, and then she came-! If I just had more t-time-!"_

 _The annoyance on the other gem's face turned to confusion. Her brows furrowed, almost looking concerned. "Stop what? What are you_ talking _about?"_ _A flash in his mind: the shrieking, and Yellow Diamond's cold, cruel smile._ _"Keep her away from me!" he cried, dashing over to the large gem and hiding behind her legs._

 _"Keep what away from you? What's the matter with you, brat?"_

 _The child stared at the red stripes on her arm and the one adorning her face. All he could think about was the screaming. He practically hugged Jasper's leg. "I don't like this! I want to wake up! Please just let me wake up!"_

* * *

He jolted upright in his bed with a strangled cry, drenched in sweat and tears. He kicked the blankets off him desperately. Anything right now felt like Yellow Diamond reaching for him, constricting him. Terrified, he reached under the covers for Lapis and clutched her gem tightly to his chest.

* * *

 _(A/N: So I was struck with inspiration and for now I'm taking off the complete tag! Steven's telapathy really interests me and there's sooo much that can be done with that. I have to wonder, to what extent does it go? Also didn't think that Steven was traumatized enough, ya know? Also a big thank you to the lovelies that reviewed me and begged for this to continue. Thanks to you, it will!)_


	3. Chapter 3

"So are we gonna catch any sharks?"

"No!" Steven yelped. "We don't want something that's gonna eat her!" He was on his knees in the shallows of the water, a pail by his side and a net in his hand. "We want little cutsie fishies, like the guppy kind! Oh, and maybe some starfish too! Anything that represents the ocean that won't try to eat any of us," he emphasized.

Amethyst clicked her tongue as she scouted dully through the water for non-lethal (boring) fish. "Are you sure this is a good idea actually? To just...surround her with fish and stuff from the ocean?"

Steven wrinkled up his face in confusion and scooped another slithering little guppy into the pail. "Why wouldn't it be? She said it herself, water is her element!"

"Yeah, but...she was imprisoned under water for a while," Amethyst reminded the boy grimly. "Bound by that crazed beefcake at the bottom of the sea. Maybe crowding her with fish is a bad idea."

For some reason Steven felt a strange protective urge flare up within him at the insult to Jasper, but he shrugged it off. "I...guess I never thought of that. I just know she likes the sea so I...I really hope she's not offended by this." He groaned and gripped his head. "Oh Amethyst, now you've got me worried!"

The stout purple gem ruffled his hair playfully. "Don't listen to me, bro! I'm sure she'll love it! And if she doesn't, can I eat the fish?"

"No!"

The door to the patio swung open as Pearl called down to them. "Steven, Amethyst, come here!"

The boy's eyes lit with stars and he was on his feet before Amethyst could even get out of the water, jostling the pail as he bolted up the steps and nearly bulldozed Pearl. "Is it time? Is she here?!"

Pearl shook her head sympathetically at the boy with a wayward little smile. "Not yet Steven. I just wanted to let you know that the tanks are all ready for your...smelly, squishy friends." She made a face at the slippery little fish paddling about in the pail. "All eight of them."

Amethyst gaped. "That's a lot of fish..."

"Well yeah!" Steven chirped. "I want it to be like the ocean so she feels safer with us!" He was grinning from ear to ear as he gazed up at a scribbled banner he had made that said 'Welcome Lapis', with ocean scented candles and seashells scattered about on the table. "I'm so excited!" He was practically bouncing. "This is going to be so cooool!"

Although the gems smiled at the child's excitement, they didn't echo the sentiment. Certainly they were relieved that Lapis was no longer a prisoner in the sea, and they were happy Steven was happy...but they weren't exactly on good terms with the ocean gem.

Pearl cleared her throat, attempting to clear the tension some. "You do realize that this many fish means a lot of responsibility Steven? You'll have to feed them and clean their tanks! Pets are not all fun and games!"

"I know," Steven chirped. "And since I'll have Lapis maybe..." He gasped. "Maybe she can talk to them! Oh man, that'd be so cool! I'd love to have a conversation with a fish!"

The gems exchanged looks and chuckled to one another. They looked up as the room was suddenly bathed in a blue light. Steven emitted the kind of squeak only dogs could hear.

The dew drop gemstone rose into the air and glowed a brilliant blue hue, taking Lapis's form. The girl's dress was shortened to just above her knees like a skirt and the short sleeves were replaced with transparent, blue long ones that went down to her wrist. Her hair was styled slightly different so more of it hung over her shoulders. She was even wearing blue flip flops that were identical to Steven's.

"Lapis!" Steven squealed, his hands over his mouth as he trembled in excitement. The gem smiled at him, but her sharp eyes were slightly narrowed on three, very tensely smiling gems beside them.

Steven caught her attention by barrelling at her like a torpedo and quite nearly knocking her off the table. Lapis seized, and for a moment, she looked ready to attack. It wasn't often someone would physically touch her without hurting her.

"Lapis it's really you!" There were tears in the boy's voice. "Oh I missed you so much!" The gem stood stiff for a moment before her arms hesitantly rested around the boy. Then they gently tightened their embrace until it was completely genuine. Lapis's mouth quivered slightly and she fought back a few tears of her own.

"I missed you too." She pat the child's soft curls and kept her dagger eyes on the Crystal Gems. They remained friendly, but guarding as they watched them.

Garnet cleared her throat, mouth pensive. "I'm sorry you were trapped for so long."

"And what time are you apologizing for exactly?" Lapis snipped. "When you made me your looking glass or when I was in the ocean?"

Garnet winced and Pearl went back to fixing up the tanks just so there would be something else she could do. "Both times. We were just trying to protect our planet before, but we could have found another way of doing it that didn't involve your imprisonment." The cold look on the other gem's face didn't fade. "You don't have to trust us, but you're welcome to stay here if you wish."

Lapis looked repulsed at the idea of resigning on this miserable planet, but the alternative was Homeworld and...that was even worse. This planet was not her home, but the planet that was...no longer felt like it. Her eyes flared with distrust and resentment.

"I don't forgive you," she told them. "Any of you. And I don't trust you either. Not after what you put me through." She looked down at the boy, whose eyes were teared up once more. "...But for at least a little while, I'll stay. For Steven."

Garnet simply nodded. "Very well. You can design your room after to anything that you wish."

"My own room? And am I going to be chained in this room?" Lapis hissed icily.

"No," Pearl snapped. "You will be free to go where you please. But we'll also be keeping an eye on you if you decide to try anything." The two glared each other down, but desperate to keep the peace, Garnet stepped between them.

"Steven has a few surprises for you, Lapis." She tapped her team's shoulders and gave them a light push towards the warp pad. "I hope you like them. We'll be back later on." They disappeared into the portal and Lapis released a large breath.

"I know that you're really mad at them and you have every right to be," Steven said softly. "But they really are trying to make things up to you, and letting you stay here—that's a big thing!"

Lapis looked completely unmoved. "Show me the surprise Steven."

"Fishies!" Steven chirped and pushed one of the small tanks over to her. It was sandy at the bottom, with a few starfish he plucked from the sea. A tiny group of guppies swam about and ogled at the pair with their little eyes.

"Fish?" Lapis leaned down to the tank and her tension seemed to lessen at the familiarity of the little sea creatures. She smiled and barely touched the glass. "You did all of this for me?" The fish seemed to sense she was one of their kind and splashed to the surface to look at her. Lapis's smile widened. "Bloop and Bubbles!"

Steven grinned. "Bloop and Bubbles?"

Lapis's blue cheeks went a deeper blue in embarrassment. "There weren't many other companions down in the ocean other then the fish that swam by. And the occasional dolphin." Her eyes darkened. "And the monster I was attached to."

Steven's smile faded. He thought of chains and darkness and striped, orange skin. "What was she like when you two were fused?"

Lapis pet Bloop's slick scales with her finger. "Awful, abusive, threatened me any chance she got. She screamed a lot, like the brute she is."

"Did she ever seem...sad?"

Lapis snorted. "If she was she hid it well. I hope she was sad and felt the pain of homesickness and defeat that I did for years beyond years." Her eyes burned with hate. "I hope she felt everything that I did."

The hateful words and venom on his friend's face chilled Steven to the bone, but he knew he couldn't blame her. "What if she became like this for a reason though? What if...she used to be different and she used to care about others?"

His mind trailed back to the dream. A young Jasper grabbing him and shielding him from Yellow Diamond. Even though it was a dream, Steven knew it was telling him something. Just for a moment he saw what she was before war corrupted her.

"I don't care about what made her this way," Lapis said coldly. "She was nothing more then my captor, and then my captive. Now I'm free of her."

Steven could sense that his friend was getting heated over the subject and knew that stress was the last thing she needed after her ordeal. He touched her hand lightly and that snapped her out of her anger. "Hey, Beach Summer Fun Buddy, what do you say I introduce you to Lion?"

* * *

Jasper was a gem that held everything, including herself in high standards. She always regarded herself with pride. General of the Homeworld Army, top of her class, servant of Yellow Diamond. Now she knew she was nothing more then a mash of mutants, and she didn't even know who they were. And to hell with it, she didn't give a _damn_ who they were.

She stood at her comrade's panel yet again, the reports in her hand and the tubes scattered about the control room, holding different shattered gems and slowly forming them together into one malformed freak. Just like her.

For a moment her mouth threatened to tremble and she bit it back with a snarl, whirling away from the tubes. It hurt to look at them. She actually felt bad for the treasonous rejects, and that was something she never felt before. Of course she never knew that she was just like them.

"Yeah, I know how you feel," she muttered gruffly to the shards floating in a green liquid behind her. "It feels like I'm splitting apart too." And maybe that would be for the better. From through the transparent glass Jasper could see a shadow approaching, a silhouette cast against the walls. Through glass the shape was deformed, but she still snarled. If it was that brat again...

"Log 15... Experiment 1.23 seems to be the most advanced one so far. It should be done within a day. Experiment 2.45 hasn't even begun to emerge. I suspect that one is a defect."

At the nasally and obnoxiously familiar voice, Jasper felt her lips snake up into a genuine smile. Her eyes narrowed like a hungry cat stalking its prey. Its green, geeky prey.

"No sign of any salvageable material from the crash. The likelyhood of getting off this miserable planet any time soon is very sl—GAH!" Peridot suddenly squealed as her vision was obscured by orange and something had its grip loosely around her neck. She looked up. "Jasper!"

The cocky grin back on her face, Jasper tightened her hold a little until her subordinate coughed slightly. Then she loosened it, but kept the other in an (almost) playful vice grip. "Nerd! I was wondering if I'd see your weird triangle head ever again!"

"Jasper! Release me right now!" The skinny gem squirmed about and gagged as her comrade gave her a squeeze that she had no idea if it was meant to be punishing or affectionate because it felt like her ribs were breaking. The larger gem released her and she fell to the ground.

"Where have you been, science freak? Did the rejects send you running off again? I've had to man the experiments on my own and frankly I've had issues reading these stupid reports since I don't speak geek like you do."

Peridot scowled as the papers were thrown at her face and she watched them flutter to the ground, gathering them up with a huff. "You are such an animal." She was nudged sharply from behind with Jasper's large elbow and nearly fell onto the control panel.

"What was that, Subordinate Peridot?" Jasper crooned intimidatingly, her smirk a mix between teasing and threatening. Ah it felt good to have someone familiar she could play with and torment. "Are you giving one of your commanding officers lip?"

"Commanding officer," Peridot growled. "You're only above me by one rank."

"But still one rank," the buffer gem reminded her with a haughty smirk. Peridot rolled her eyes and moved past her, toward the panel. The obnoxious smirk on Jasper's face slid off the moment she realized what Peridot intended to do.

A few buttons were pressed and the static on the large screen morphed into the image of the last person Jasper wanted to see. It was funny since she was always eager for these calls; eager to blab about her progress and receive the recognition she so diligently deserved. Eager to see her respectable leader's face. Now, she was just sickened by the sight.

All of her long life she had been trained to think she was a powerful warrior and an asset by her strength and skill...but it was all because of some experiment that had been hidden from her since her harvest. Still Jasper looked at Yellow Diamond and bowed as she would any other time. She was betrayed by her own planet, suddenly one of the rejects she claimed to loathe.

And yet...it was all she knew. Her entire life had been dedicated to Homeworld and serving her planet until she was imprisoned in the sea. Now she was free...and somehow she felt more chain bound then she ever did on the ocean floor. Bound by her own blind loyalty and loss of what to do with her life now...

She didn't greet her superior with the enthusiasm she usually did. "Greetings Superior. I apologize that it's been so long since I've contacted you."

"Yes and I've grown impatient General," Yellow Diamond said, her eyes sharp like a cat. "You and your subordinate are wearing on my nerves. Do I perhaps need to send another gem out to do your duties?"

"No!" Jasper exclaimed. She fought back a growl. "That won't be necessary. We won't fail you Superior."

"I hope not, because the fact that you were defeated by the traitors makes me question your ability to do this mission."

Jasper felt her very thin patience chip away to fury, but Peridot luckily responded before she could. "We apologize for the deterrence, Superior Yellow Diamond, but Jasper and I are fully capable of handling this mission. The experiments are progressing and once we manage to fix the ship we will deliver them to you. I am just...unsure of the increment of time it will take to get back."

"You have a week." Yellow Diamond hissed quietly. Her eyes narrowed threateningly. "You don't want to know what consequences will arise from your failure. And what about the traitors? Have you disposed of them?"

Jasper scowled. "Superior, we are without many weapons and are against five gems and a fusion. And I just recently escaped from that wretched ocean brat and her underwater chains."

"Killing them will be difficult against such a large number. Even a fusion between Jasper and I would never be enough if they themselves all fuse. The fact that Rose Quartz still resides with them adds to the difficulty. He's in a small flesh pod called 'Steven.' Although he seems to be a mere gemling."

"Are you so incompetent that you can't dispose of a mere larvae?"

"It's not that !" Jasper grunted, annoyed by the sudden indecisiveness she felt. "Look the brat has Rose's gem. He claims to be her son. We can't just crush him if this is really true. Didn't you want us to deliver Rose to you?"

"We'll still have to incapacitate him," Peridot reminded Jasper. "That might be difficult with his guard dogs protecting him. We'd have to lure him away from the other gems." She paused. "But the gem destabilizer doesn't work on him."

"Injuring him does," Jasper grunted. "I'll just beat him back into his gem again and we'll find a way to keep him in it until we get back." She looked away from both Peridot and her leader, her arms clasped around herself uncertainly as one of her fangs poked her bottom lip.

"So now we just have to lure him here."

"Leave that to me," Jasper muttered. "He'll come to me..."

* * *

 _Tonight there was no whimsical, fun nonsense to start everything off on a light hearted note. No Lapis, no video game characters dancing in his room. Automatically he was somewhere unfamiliar, surrounded by other gems. This time he wasn't as boxed in as before, but when he looked around he discovered a string of electric wire around him and the group, penting them in like pigs._

 _"Where am I?" Was this Homeworld again? "Jasper?" he called. "Jasper are you here? Jasper? Can anyone hear me?"_

 _This dream seemed different. It was like a movie, and he was left to helplessly observe the terror he knew was to follow. He walked on, limbs shaking as he explored the large yard. It was set up with vigorous training equipment and large pits of water and...what looked to be acid._

 _To the child's horror, he watched as a small yellow gem his size fell from the bars she was hanging onto and into the vat below. She retreated into her gem the moment her legs touched the corrosive liquid, but her gem melted away into the acid. The acid had different rainbow hues...from all the gems it had melted._

 _Steven whimpered and covered his ears from the screams, running forward until he saw someone very familiar. She was smaller and stubbier, but he couldn't miss the triangular head._

 _"Peridot!"_

 _Her lime green skin was tattered with cuts from the day, and her face and hair was dirty as could be, but somehow she had emerged victorious. Where her fellow gems lay bleeding or tucked into their gems in the dust, she somehow stood on wobbly young legs._

 _"5 minutes and thirty seconds, short stuff. Not bad," A larger, frightening looking gem said gruffly. "You're not as spindly and weak as I gave you credit for. Perhaps you are ready for your next test."_

 _"Thank you, Commander Topaz." The child gem straightened on cracking knees and saluted automatically, but her formal stance fell when the other recruiters dragged this runty little green thing by heavy chains and shoved her towards her. The little gem, looking to be no more then five year old had a rusted emerald on her forehead that showed little signs of life._

 _Steven gave a soft, horrified gasp. "No..."_

 _Topaz just sneered. "Here's your next test, rookie." She tossed a spear at the girl's feet and Peridot looked on it in horror. The little emerald in front of her had the same expression of terror, but also a muted acceptance._

 _"Wh...what..."_

 _"Kill her."_

 _Peridot whirled around in shock and horror, eyes darting from the pathetic looking gem to the weapon in her hand. "Why?!" she demanded._

 _Topaz gripped the emerald by the shirt collar and jabbed harshly at the defected rock on her forehead. "The brat's got nothing to her. Her gem has been malfunctioning since her harvest." She snered. "And what do we DO to defects?"_

 _"Th-they're killed and their gems are recycled." Peridot started to tremble. "But I can't! She's a gem just like me!"_

 _"She's WEAK and she's nothing to this empire. She wouldn't survive out there anyway, and she's better off dead. I order you, brat. Kill her. Shove that spear straight through that weak hunk of stone in her body."_

 _"No!" Steven shook Peridot's shoulders, but she didn't react to him. "Don't do it Peridot! Please!"_

 _Peridot's eyes filled and her fingers sweat as she gripped the spear between them. She gazed over at the emerald, two pairs of eyes staring deeply into the other's soul. Face hardened, the gem stood up straight and stalked over with the spear as the emerald shut her eyes. She waited for the sting of death, but instead before Topaz could stop her, Peridot slashed through the chains._

 _"There's escape pods close by! Just run past the chambers and you'll find them. GO, NOW!" The younger gem scrambled to her feet and darted off as quickly as a frightened mouse. Peridot was not so fortunate as a hard fist collided with her cheek and she found herself knocked to the ground with a swollen jaw. Topaz's boot planted itself onto her back and pushed down gradually as she gasped in pain._

 _"Peridot!" Steven yelped in terror._

 _"Big mistake, rookie," Topaz sneered._

 _"She's a sentient being just like me! She has the right to live! I wasn't going to hurt her!" Peridot cried out as the commander grabbed her by her small arm and jerked her to eye level._

 _"Yeah, we'll see how we can change that," Topaz smirked cruelly and tilted the younger's chin to look right into her evil eyes. "I wonder how flame resistant a nine year old's skin is..."_

 _"NO!" Steven roared. He snarled and leaped at the towering gem, kicking her shins with all he had in him and tearing at the hands she gripped Peridot with. "I won't let you! You let her go! LET PERIDOT GO, YOU BIG BULLY! I WON'T LET YOU HURT HER!" He yanked on her and kicked and punched, but the two gems began to fade away with the rest of his surroundings and Steven fell to the ground._

 _Everything was pitched black. Not a light could be seen, and all that Steven could hear was very near, loud sobbing. He turned and saw the balled up, burned form in a fetal position on her side._

 _"Peridot!" His own eyes tearing, the child ran to her and fell on his knees next to her. "Peridot, are you okay?" She didn't respond. Her skin was scorched in places and red from her punishment, and it just made the tears increase._

 _"Ya better knock off that attitude kid, if you know what's good for ya," a gruff and young voice spoke from the darkness at the other side of the cell. "I saw what you did back in training... And you're not gonna be alive much longer if you don't smarten up."_

 _Peridot backed up against the wall but felt a small sense of comfort at the stranger's voice. And Steven recognized it immediately. Yellow piercing eyes stared at them from the darkness. "They tried to make me kill another gem. I...I wouldn't."_

 _"Yeah, and look where that got you," the voice scoffed, but it dipped to sympathy and sorrow. "You learn to just do what they say. If they say crush 'em, you do it. No question. Sooner or later it gets easier and you don't feel as much when you do it."_

 _"No, it doesn't have to be that way!" Steven cried futilely at them. He may as well have been talking to a wall. "I can help you! I can get you away from them!"_

 _The small gem started crying more. "I want to leave! I want to get off this horrible planet!"_

 _From in the dark the other girl's eyes softened. "I know. I've been there.. I was once the same as you, but you realize after...years of trying to get away that you can't. And the only way to stay alive is to toughen up. Harden yourself. Don't let yourself feel pain, watch the deaths around you without the blink of an eye. If you do maybe you got a chance."_

 _The child sobbed more and buried her face into her arms. The golden eyes just watched her._

 _"What's your name? You must be pretty special to be in the older division. It's twelve to fifteen here, but you look too runty to be my age."_

 _"I'm...Peridot," the girl whispered and winced at the sting of her charred arms._

 _"Jasper." The other gem finally crawled out of the darkness, a jagged stone where her nose would be. She summoned up some bandages and reached for the kid. "Gimmie your arm, Lima Bean."_

* * *

 _(A/N: Here things really begin to heat up! The next two chapters are a fugue of agony, just warning you right now! Looks like our little Steven is in danger...but it seems a certain gem is conflicted, and for the first time in her life, trying to figure out where she belongs. How's that going to turn out? I guess you'll all just have to wait and see!)_


	4. Chapter 4

"Your room looks really cool, Lapis!" Steven wandered around the beach-like setting that Lapis had created a few hours earlier. It was similar to the type of water habitat you'd see in a zoo. She had replicated a few parts of Beach City that she liked. Most of the floor was sand leading into a water sanctuary that spread through-out the room. It reminded Steven of the inside of her gem.

"Despite my loathing for this planet, I will admit that the beach is...pretty," Lapis said quietly and slightly begrudgingly. "I always feel more at home when I'm in the water."

"Alright guys, time to go into your new home!" Steven chirped as he emptied the tanks of fish into Lapis's large pool. The wriggling little creatures splashed around eagerly in this new body of water. Steven giggled. "Heh, Pearl's pretty mad because she spent hours preparing the tanks for them."

"They'd be happier here," Lapis pointed out. She was kneeling next to the water, smiling at a few of the fish that lingered at the surface to see her. She slipped into the water and let her hair down. It tumbled to her shoulders. The gem on her back glowed in content.

Steven spotted a hammock strung to a palm tree over in the sand. "Ou, a hammock!"

"I mostly designed that for you," Lapis said, wading in the shallow waters. "I knew you'd be visiting me here often and your kind requires sleep."

"Right you are," Steven chirped as he swung himself up onto the net and happily settled right in. "You sure know a thing or two about hospitality. I bet Connie will love you as much as I do!"

Lapis's blue face gave a deep flush and she timidly smiled. "Connie? Oh, is that the human girl you were telling me about?"

"Yeppers! She's always happy to meet new friends—plus she thinks the gems are super cool, and we are!" He puffed his chest out proudly. "You can even get a taste of human food and how amazing it is. I'll take you to the Big Donut! Oh, my Dad's coming over too! He's gotta help me fix my ukulele. One of the strings broke..."

"What is a Ukulele?"

"Oh it's a really cool instrument that humans use to make music! I can teach you how to play it!"

"Steven?" Through the door hidden behind a veil of waterfall, Steven could hear his Dad and Connie. "Steven, are you there?"

"They're here!" the boy blurted excitedly as he grabbed Lapis's hand and pulled her out of the room. "They're just going to love you!" They were both soaked as they passed through the small wall of water, but Steven still popped out as excited as ever.

"Connie! Dad!" The boy bolted over to them and ensnared both in a tight hug. "I'm so glad you're here! I could hear the crying of my ukulele, so neglected, so...abandoned." He sniffled.

"Yeah," Greg snickered as he dug around through his case. "How did you break the string anyway?"

The boy flashed a deadpan expression over at a purple gem stuffing her face with fixings for sandwiches. "Somebody decided to use the strings as dental floss."

"Hey, I was out of shoe laces!"

Connie looked past Steven, to a frozen Lapis Lazuli. Her eyes widened. "Lapis..." The last memories of her was when the gem tried to drown her. The air reeked of tension and downright awkwardness. "...Hey there?"

Lapis rubbed her arms and barely waved. "You...you must be Connie." She looked over to Greg. "And you're Steven's...birth parent, right?" The thought of actual human conception was still so strange to her.

"Uh...yeah." Greg looked from his son to Lapis. "I'm Greg Universe, Steven's Dad. You might remember me. You broke my leg and trashed my van. And tried to drown my son."

"Dad!" Steven groaned. He gave them both a shove to the couch and sat down stiffly in the middle of the three. "Some apologies may be in order here." He looked over at Lapis.

"I'm...sorry for all the trouble I caused," the blue gem admitted quietly. "I would never want to hurt Steven or anyone close to him. I just wanted to go home and—I felt trapped." As she had always been. Greg and Connie nodded with a light smile. It was the best they could do for now. Almost killing everyone was probably a hard thing to forgive someone for.

Thankfully Pearl broke the ice as she brought over a tray of healthy snacks. She eyed the tray with disgust. "Even though I find the thought of ingestion..." She couldn't even finish that thought as she almost gagged. "I know it's customary to do when you have guests, especially!"

The children made grabs for the apple slices with peanut butter while Greg chomped down on some crackers with cheese and tomatoes. "Oh man Rose used to make these little snacks for me. But she...had no idea how to cook so at first some of the combinations could be pretty disgusting. Like...the caramel coated pickles." He shuddered. "Ever had food before, Lapis?"

Lapis looked down at the tidbit offered to her and took it hesitantly. "Food was never a requirement on Homeworld, so I don't think I ever did. I know that...humans eat it though."

"Alright, well here's a tip: don't try caramel coated pickles."

The small blue gem gave a slight albeit awkward nod. "Noted." She bit into the cracker, not sure what to make of the food.

"So are you going to fix your ukulele?" Connie asked the boy. "I've been missing our duets! I wrote up a whole list of songs we could sing and play together! Maybe at the Beach City Talent Show in a few weeks?"

"Oomf—I almost forgot!" Steven sputtered through a mouthful of crackers. "Dad, my ukulele!"

"On it, on it." Greg took the broken instrument into his lap and pulled out a new pouch of strings. "You guys should really keep the dental floss stacked for ol' purple chomps over there." He jerked a finger to Amethyst, and she blew a raspberry at him.

The boy bounced up and down in his spot as he watched his Dad fiddle with the strings, until finally he passed it back. "Here you go, music boy."

"Alright!" Steven pumped his fist. "The musical findings you are about to hear today are brought to you by yours truly!" He strummed over a few chords and looked at Lapis. "See? It makes music! Pretty sounds to listen to! Want to try?"

Lapis flicked one of the chords and blinked at the note that rang through the air. "It's...interesting."

"Play something Steven!" Connie urged. "Have you made any new songs recently?" The boy flushed and looked down. "You have, haven't you? Play it!"

"Um..." He flushed more. "Well it's...it's just something I've thought up. I haven't really polished it. It's kinda stupid-"

"Nothing you do is stupid," Greg pointed out and Steven looked over at both of his friends' smiling faces.

"Well okay..." He blushed more and gripped the ukulele tight.

 _"Oh Jasper, I know you're out there_

 _Probably alone and full of fear_

 _But if you let me I want to help you_

 _You know I haven't gotten any chance to know you_

 _And it's tearing me apart to know our views are far apart_

 _And I just want this war to end_

 _And I want us to finally...be friends..."_

There was a small and sad smile on both Greg and Connie's face but Lapis had darkened instantly.

 _"Oh Jasper I know you think they're good_

 _But they do awful things that no one should_

 _You don't have to be their war machine_

 _Cause there's more to you then we have seen!_

 _And I just want to help you_

 _I don't want you to be alone_

 _I bet you might like it here_

 _If I show you our home_

 _Could you take my hand_

 _And I'll show you all our land_

 _If you bare your heart_

 _I won't let you fall apart..._

 _No, I won't let you fall apart..."_

He finished the note with a slight tear in his eye, but as Connie and Greg clapped for him, Lapis abruptly slammed her chair into the table and started to storm away. "Wha—Lapis!" She went through the door and he caught up with her. "Lapis! Lapis what's the matter?!"

"Just go away!" Lapis snarled, turning to him. "Go back and play your stupid ukalenii or whatever it is!"

Steven might have giggled at the pronunciation she used if it wasn't for the seriousness of this. "But what's going on? Why are you upset?"

Lapis clenched her fists. "I gave up everything to—to chain that monster and keep her away from you! To protect you! And now you want her back?! After everything she's done to you? To your family?!"

Steven was taken aback. "Lapis, I know what you did for me! And I really appreciate it! But I just think that...that I can still get through to her! I don't want to believe that it's all hopeless! If she just realizes that maybe someone cares-"

"She won't change, Steven!" Lapis shouted. "She's evil, inside and out! She doesn't care about anyone but herself! I wish she had rotted away and died at the bottom of the sea!"

The child's eyes filled with horror and suddenly, anger sparked within him. "That's a terrible thing to say! No one deserves that, no matter what they've done! She was never given a chance to be free-"

Lapis's eyes flared with fire. Her anger was so palpable that it caused the water nearby to tremble. "SHE WAS NEVER GIVEN A CHANCE TO BE FREE? WHAT ABOUT ME?!"

"She's a forced fusion!" Steven shouted back at her. "She was made that way, as a mash of gems stuck together! She didn't have a choice to be herself! I'm not saying she didn't have a choice to do the bad things she did, cause she did and that's bad, but...she was never given a chance from the moment she was made!"

"She tried to kill you and your family!"

"SO DID YOU!" Steven hollered back. "You tried to drown me and my entire family and kill my planet too so how does that make you any different?!"

Lapis stared at him, stricken. Her arms lowered to her sides and her mouth went into a tight line.

"I..." Steven already felt the guilt creeping up on him. "I'm sorry Lapis. I didn't mean to yell. I just...I want to give her a chance, like I gave you. I just want everyone to be happy."

The blue gem's eyes hardened over like ice. "No, I know what you meant. Just go then. Go see Jasper if that's what will make you happy and you don't even care about how I feel."

"Lapis please—it's not like that!" Steven pleaded, but the gem disappeared under the water. Heartbroken, Steven stood and stared at the still water for a few moments, feeling the tears brim in his eyes. He passed through the waterfall, soaked and tear streaked.

"Steven!" Connie ran over to him. "What's the matter?"

"The..." He sniffled and wiped his eyes. "I think everything was just too much for her. It's fine!" He tried to shrug it off. "It's all fine. She just needs to be alone..."

Greg sensed the pain in his boy's voice and he drew him close against him, giving his shoulder a fatherly squeeze. "Hey buddy, how about some pizza?"

* * *

 _He woke wrapped in blankets, with the flood of light spilling through the windows, the room lit a slight orange hue from a sunrise. He could hear the birds and the trickle of the morning tide._

 _The boy's eyes sparkled. "Morning time!" he exclaimed happily. "Peeearl!" The child's small feet drummed down the steps. "Pearl I want pancakes! And if I can have chocolate syrup I'll do any chore you ask!" he said in his sweetest-little-boy voice, eyes sparkling angelically as he swayed back and forth._

 _There was no response, and by the looks of it, no one in the kitchen. Or even the temple. The boy turned and gazed at the large temple door. Was that...dirt, or were there a few added spots under the stars?_

Orange...blue...green.

 _"Steven!" Pearl's voice came from outside on the beach. Steven ran out, ready to playfully demand his pancakes and other sugary breakfast food, but the words died on his tongue as his heart nearly stopped._

 _It was sunset, not a sunrise, and his Dad was there as usual on their weekly barbecue night. Connie was there, the rest of the gems were there, but..._

 _"Connie Human!" Peridot hissed as she attempted to ward off the young girl from the screen of a red 3DS. "Back away from the screen, child! You're compromising my vision and I MUST BEAT THE HAIRY MAN'S HIGH SCORE IN THIS 'TETRIS!'" Connie giggled and crossed her legs in the sand, peering over the green gem's shoulder to watch her play._

 _"What..." Steven slowly walked down the steps, awestruck. Other then the additions, everything was...normal. Nothing seemed to behave in the way his dreams usually did. It felt so realistic that Steven couldn't believe it was a dream. The wind beat down on him. He could smell the burgers. Laughter and squabbling rang clear in his ears._

 _"Hmmph. Bout time you woke up!" The child tilted his head up and he nearly fainted. There stood Jasper. She towered over him, eyes narrowed and expression annoyed. A large hand reached down to him and he yelped and braced himself. She mussed his hair with the force of a giant and he fell on his back, stunned. He touched his now frizzy locks._

 _"What...?" He couldn't believe it, but the larger gem kept looking down at him. Her arms were crossed but she was smirking. It wasn't an evil one either. It was...playful. "What are you doing here?"_

 _Jasper raised an eyebrow at him. "What are you talking about? It's barbecue night. Someone's gotta make sure that Pearl doesn't somehow screw up the salad by putting in stinging nettles instead of lettuce."_

 _"That was one time, you brute! What about when you were playing with a piñata and you took out a window and a wall?!" The slimmer gem snapped back from where she was disdainfully preparing the greens for dinner. She turned to Steven and her expression became friendlier. "Hello Steven! Did you have a nice nap?"_

 _The child looked from her to Jasper, and then over at Lapis and Amethyst who were running around on the beach with water guns, occasionally squirting at Peridot, who shouted at them and shook her fist._

 _"How..." He looked around in a daze. "How long...was I asleep for?" And what universe did he wake up in?_

 _"About an hour." Jasper shrugged and Steven squealed as she suddenly grabbed him by his feet and threw him over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. The child scrambled up to sit on her shoulder as she walked over to where Peridot and Connie were sitting._

 _"Hey Steven!" his best friend chirped. "You're finally awake! Peridot thinks she can actually beat your Dad's score on Tetris—even though she's more then half a million points behind!"_

 _"You are distracting me!" the green gem shrieked. "And now so is the orange warthog and the child sitting on her like a parrot!" Connie giggled, but Jasper's eyes narrowed into small slits of wrath._

 _"What'd you call me, Geek?" Peridot realized her mistake far too late as she dropped the console into the sand and tried to back up and put some distance between them._

 _"No-nothing!" the triangular gem squealed. "Nothing at all!" She screamed when Jasper reached down and effortlessly grabbed her by the waist. "Noooo!" The small gem flailed in her grip as she was hoisted over her shoulder, pounding on her back. "Nooo! Jasper pleeeease! The water is cold! And there are swimming little invertebrae there! Jasperrr!"_

 _"Yeah I know, I was imprisoned at the bottom of the sea, remember?" the larger gem grunted, a smirk on her face as she tossed Peridot into the water as if she was a small stone. Water splashed Steven and Connie, and the girl giggled as she wrung out her dress._

 _"I just love coming here, Steven!" Connie laughed. "Hanging with your family is always such an adventure."_

 _"Family...?" The word rolled off his tongue and the strangest feeling coursed through him. A mixture of feelings; shock, warmth, wonderment... This was all a dream. He knew it was a dream, but yet... Nothing had ever fit so perfectly, or felt so real._

 _"Eek!" Lapis suddenly squealed as a squirt of water hit her back. She spun around to glare at a snickering purple gem who had transformed herself into a living water pistol. "Oh so magic is allowed in this duel? Well..." She smirked. Raising her hand, a torrent of water shot up into the air at her command._

 _Jasper just snorted. "Come on, that's how gemlings fight, Water Princess." She grinned. "How about we fuse together and give these wimps a real war?"_

 _"Oh no!" Greg growled. "No weird gem magic stuff around these hamburgers! I just got them right!" He flattened himself against the barbecue, as if trying to protect the hamburgers._

 _"Fusion is not a tactic to play with!" Pearl chastised. "We don't fuse when we're playing games, we fuse for serious situations!"_

 _"And dinner parties..." Garnet muttered as she flipped a patty._

 _Lapis and Jasper ignored the warnings of course, falling into the dance Steven remembered them using. Rather then the maniacal and menacing intent before, Steven saw a playful mischief in their eyes. The dance...had a whole new motive this time._

 _Steven gasped as the gems glowed with a bright light and towered over him, forming the dreaded Malachite. Her cyan eyes lit with playfulness and her large limbs lifted into the air. "Raaaawwwr!"_

 _Connie and Amethyst shrieked and took off running as Malachite summoned up a tidal wave. It was small, like the type of wave a surfer would skim through. She unleashed it on the beach, and it washed out the small gems, and sadly, the burgers._

 _"MY PATTIES!" Greg wailed as he watched their slow deaths to the water below._

 _"Run now, little gems! Just try it!" Screams echoed around as water washed over them all and small water bombs were tossed their way. Laughter, annoyed curses, high pitched shrieks, (Greg crying). It was something that Steven couldn't believe even seeing it with his own eyes. Four large eyes pierced his and the child squealed as he suddenly found one of the fusion's large hands gently pinning him._

 _"Hey!" Steven yelped. The large claw curled, the nails digging slightly into his belly and Steven giggled, squirming under the hold. The nails digging into his belly made him shriek out a laugh. It clawed at his stomach like a tickly rake and he couldn't tell if it was Lapis or Jasper controlling the movement—or both of them. Either way, it was horrible! "Stop! Stop, that tickles!"_

 _The fusion raised its hand with a smirk, beckoning another wave to rise. "Who wins the water war now, you little wimps?" It was Jasper that gave a maniacal cackle and Lapis's own giggle echoed as well. They sent the water hurtling at Steven and the child shrieked as he was swept away in its force, and washed back up onto the beach._

 _The water receded as Steven giggled, and climbed to his feet. He realized quickly that the air had changed, and the family atmosphere had diminished. Wind ruffled his hair, and when he opened his eyes he saw the jagged cliffs around him. Kindergarden, and he was on top of it again._

 _"Hey."_

 _The child's eyes snapped open to the familiar voice. "Jasper!" he exclaimed, staring bug eyed up the woman standing by his feet. "Jasper, what are...what are we doing here?"_

 _"It's my thinking place," the orange gem grunted. "The only time I get away from green Geeky over there." She jerked a thumb back to their headquarters. "And get to be by myself."_

 _"But...why aren't we at the barbecue?" the child asked, tilting his head. Jasper stared at him scowling in confusion._

 _"What the hell is a barbecue?"_

 _Oh...that dream was over, and now he was actually with Jasper and talking to her in Kindergarden. He sat down on the gravel and looked up at her. "What are you thinking about? Since...you said this was your thinking spot..." He rocked back and forth in a small ball._

 _"I'm thinking..." She raised her head, looking off into the canyons of Kindergarden. "How you might be right, about this whole fusion thing, and about Homeworld. I was bred as nothing more then a war machine." She shut her eyes, willed the pang in her heart to go away. She had to focus! "How can I trust a planet that kept the truth about my own creation from me?" This part of the masquerade she didn't even need to try and fabricate her anger and pain._

 _"I don't know what my purpose is." All of a sudden soft and tiny fingers slipped into her large, heavy hand. The gentle contact was so surprising that it almost made Jasper jump. Her hand jerked and she stared down at the boy._

 _"It's okay," Steven said gently. "'Cause I'm still trying to find my place in the world too. Being half gem and half human...I got a lot to think about sometimes." He smiled at her. "But if you want we can figure things out together?" he asked hopefully._

 _Jasper was quiet for a long moment. She kept looking down at him and the innocent soulful eyes stared back at her. Full of hope. Jasper's lips tilted up a little._

 _"Yeah, sure. Maybe I'd like that." She reached down and Steven winced, bracing himself. Then he felt her large hand roughly messing his curls, the force nearly making him fall over. All the while, the child had stars in his eyes._ Just like in the dream...

 _"Well there's not much we can really do here," Jasper said, motioning around them. "In this weird...hologram state. You'd have to come to Kindergarden. Maybe from there, we can figure out a way to save the other forced fusions."_

 _Steven's starry eyes teared up in joy, painfully oblivious. "Yeah, okay! I can come see you right now! All the gems are in their rooms so the warp pad is free! I just gotta wake up first! I'll be right there!"_

* * *

Jasper's golden eyes slowly opened and adjusted to the darkness around her. Electrodes were attached to her head, modifying her dream, which projected on the large screen in the lab. "Sleep is weird."

"Yes, I don't understand why humans require this strange stasis to simply function. Weak creatures," Peridot scoffed. "He seemed eager to trust you. It was an even easier task then I expected." She tilted her head at her companion, as if wanting to question why that was, but she didn't know what to say. "It was also a better idea then simply trying to approach him at the temple, since you could have been spotted."

Jasper scoffed. "Of course it was a brilliant idea. I'm capable of being smart too, you know." She pushed a hand against Peridot's face, smirking as it caused the visor to become crooked. "Well he's gonna be here soon. Are we ready for him?"

Peridot nodded and looked over at the pod they had reserved for Steven. "Yes, I designed this one to be able to contain him since he's half human. He shouldn't be able to free himself of this one."

"Good," Jasper grunted, but she didn't sound completely confident. "Let's just do this then."

* * *

 _(A/N: NOOOO! DON'T HURT THE CINNAMON ROLL! I realize that poor Connie and Greg needed some focus on them too, especially since the next two chapters are all about Steven, Jasper, and Peridot. I hope you're all prepared, because shit is really going to go down next chapter. Prepare your heart for the feels and pain, as Steven, Jasper, and Peridot need to do as well.)_


	5. Chapter 5

_(A/N: Buckle up folks. Seriously, prepare yourselves. This is the chapter where shit. goes. down.)_

* * *

Steven made his way down the steps to the cool tiles below, so excited that he could hardly keep his footsteps to the light rhythm that was needed to not alert any of the gems. He bounced up and down in the spot, a large smile on his face. This was it! He had finally gotten through to Jasper and now he could help her and hopefully Peridot, and show them what Homeworld really was!

 _And I'm gonna save the fusions!_ He gave an inward little squeal. _Garnet is gonna be so proud!_ Steven double checked the kitchen to make sure Amethyst wasn't rummaging for a midnight snack. This was the time of night that Garnet and Pearl were usually in their rooms, or off training. If he was caught he'd be finished. If Lapis caught him he'd really be finished.

Lapis... The boy's sad eyes roved over to the newest room of the temple, where his newest friend was in there somewhere, probably hating him. He wanted to go to her so badly and make up, but if she knew he really was going after Jasper it would just make her angrier at him. Well...she lived with them now. It wasn't like he had to worry about finding her at the bottom of the ocean anymore. He'd apologize tomorrow, with some brand new fish for her aquarium!

Hurrying to the portal before anyone realized he was gone, the child disappeared in a flash of light.

For the first time, going to Kindergarden was an exciting experience rather than a scary one that brought the looming threat of doom. It was a hero mission, just him and Jasper! He wondered if she was gonna wind up staying with them too at the temple, and then he got even more excited at the very thought! Maybe they could convince Peridot to join too? As a giant team of Crystal Gems there's nothing they wouldn't be able to do!

Giving a little squeak of excitement, Steven looked around the breeding ground. As she promised, she was standing there, just a few feet away from the warp pad. "Jasper!" the child shouted excitedly as he ran up to her. It was the first time they were physically meeting since the incident occurred. He was much like a bouncy ball on sugar, hopping up and down around her in a circle. "I'm so happy to see you! Do you have any plans on how to free the fusions? Are you gonna bust 'em out? Are we gonna find a way to fix the shards?"

The large gem stared at the bizarre display for a while before she slapped a hand down on his head to shut him up. "First of all, brat, there will be no fixing anything," Jasper said grimly. "These aren't full gems that can regenerate. There's just...pieces of them. It's like a broken vase without any glue. There's no way to bring them back to life."

The boy's face fell. "So they're...gonna stay dead?"

"Yeah." And some foreign and bizarre self loathing part of her was wishing whatever made her up just stayed dead too in the beginning. "So..." She looked around. "Do the rest of the rejects—I mean...Crystal Gems, know you're here?"

The child shook his head. "No, I knew they'd stop me if they knew. They still think you're evil and want to kill them."

So the brat was alone...good. Should be easy enough, she figured. Peridot had assured her that she had the boy's capture all figured out and none of his guardians were here to get in the way. Even though the child himself had Rose's gem, he didn't seem to know how to fully use it. That would make this process easier and quicker.

"Let's head to the control room then," the orange gem grunted, leading her prey towards the hole in the ground. Steven skipped along, oblivious as anything and happy as could be.

"So where is Peridot then?" Steven asked. "You mentioned she was here..." His mouth tilted a little in amusement. "At least I think that's what you meant by 'Geeky.'"

Jasper smirked at the nickname and stepped onto the moving lift. "Yeah, that is what I meant. She's down there, waiting for us."

Steven's eyes grew even more starry. "She's in on this too?!"

If the boy had been looking at her, he might have caught the malicious glint in her eyes. "Oh yeah...she's definitely in on it."

The lift settled onto the ground below and Steven looked around at the flashing buttons, and the black transmission screen. Among several chambers that held the shattered gems, the boy saw a new pod. It was...smaller, like it was made for a child. There were clamps on the top of it and on the bottom. It was different then the others, and it was..empty. It was empty but it was open, like it was waiting to contain something.

The boy's heart began to beat fast and he swallowed hard. He gave a nervous giggle and he backed up until he bumped into Jasper's large legs. Out of instinct, he clutched one slightly. "Wow, I forgot how...creepy this place is. Um...where's Peridot?"

The orange form standing above him became menacing once more, her golden eyes glazed with ice. "Right here," she said calmly.

Before the child had a chance to turn around something suddenly burned into his back and his body twitched and jerked as sparks coursed through out his small form. The last things that Steven saw before his vision went black was the dark looks on both Jasper and Peridot's face.

* * *

He hurt all over when he woke up, and it was deja vu all over again. He was captured, he'd been hurt. His back stung from where the shocks hit him, and his legs and arms tingled and throbbed. He knew he had some burns from...whatever they used on him.

His eyes adjusted to the room as the moving colors formed into Jasper and Peridot. They were going back and forth from the lift with different gadgets and tools in their hands, and Steven could hear lasers beaming on the ground above.

"How is the status of the ship coming along?" Peridot asked her comrade as the woman made her way back to the panel. Jasper shrugged, almost listlessly.

"Along, I guess. I don't know, you're the techy one, I'm the muscled one that beats things up." She didn't even sound snarky when she said it, and there was no cocky smirk on her face. Peridot raised an eyebrow.

"Are you feeling alright?" she frowned. Something felt...off about her companion. And given the fact that Jasper barely ever showed much emotion (neither of them did), it was...concerning. "I am concerned."

The woman grunted and scowled at the green gem, shoving her aside as she made her way over to the panel. She was making a direct effort to avoid any eye contact with their prisoner. "I'm fine, Peridot! Just...concern yourself with your own stuff, okay?" she barked at Peridot, hoping that her angry tone would scare the little nerd off. It didn't. "I guess I just miss home." More like, she wished she knew where her home really was...

At that Peridot's straight face dipped to something sympathetic. "As do I, but once the ship is finished we can finally head back. We have checked the cluster and captured the Quartz child. That was our mission."

The Quartz child... Finally she looked over at their prisoner, who had been completely silent this entire time. Straightening up tall, Jasper slowly walked over.

The boy couldn't even look at her. His entire body shook with physical and emotional pain. It felt like his heart was crumbling apart. "H...how could you..." The orange gem made no response, and with a strangled cry, Steven jumped to his feet and slammed his hands up against the glass. "HOW COULD YOU!" His face was a mess of tears and mucus.

Jasper's lip twitched in a snarl. "How could I what?" she snapped. "You knew this from the beginning, kid! We. Are. Your Enemies. We're gems sent from Homeworld to destroy this disgusting hunk of rock and everyone on it! You know that!"

"But we—we were talking!" The child could hardly get anything out through his sobs, which trailed off into hiccups. "Y-y-you said you weren't w-with Homeworld anymore 'cause they be-betrayed y-you! You said w-we were gonna s-save the fusions! Together!"

"Of course I did," Jasper snarled. "I needed some way to get you here and I knew you were stupid and desperate enough that you'd think I did a complete turn-around!"

The boy trembled and buckled against the glass, his hands sliding down it. "I-I trusted you..." he whispered.

Suddenly, Jasper's eyes dipped to something more morose, and almost sympathetic. "A word of advice, brat. Don't blindly put your faith in something without thinking because it's only going to break you in the end." She closed her eyes and walked away from the cage, hardening her reserve.

Steven threw himself up against the glass, his gem flickering with stress as it attempted to summon something that could help him. It was no use. All that appeared was his bubble, and it immediately popped inside of the cell. He kicked and clawed at the capsule.

"It's futile, Quartz child," Peridot informed the boy as she walked over. "We realize that our last attempt to capture you failed because we didn't realize that your specific species was...unique. But I have created this capsule just for you with the right technology. It will hold gems and humans."

"Why are you doing this?" Steven sobbed. "What did the earth ever do to you? What makes you want to destroy it so bad?!"

"It is our mission," Peridot said simply. "We do what our Superior tells us to do."

"But why?!" the boy cried. "Why do you hurt people? Why does she want to hurt people? What does she get out of it?! What do YOU get out of it?"

"You know nothing of our world, child," Peridot scoffed. "Yellow Diamond does what she thinks is right for our civilization. All she wants to do is make sure our planet and our kind prospers! Our leader simply wants the best for us!"

Steven narrowed his eyes. "Really?" He glared at the green gem right in the eye. "Was it out of that mindset that she decided to fuse together sick and damaged gems to make them into war machines, like she did with Jasper?!"

The giant gem at the other side of the room froze. She whirled around to them both and pointed a dangerous finger towards Steven, arm shaking. "You _shut your mouth."_

"Was it out of wanting to do the best for her people that she never, ever told you what you ARE?" Steven cried. Peridot's eyes widened a little.

"Jasper...what is the child talking about?"

"I said shut up you little maggot, before I ram your teeth down your own throat!"

"Was it out of wanting to do the best for her people that she just made you as a weapon?!"

 _"I SAID SHUT UP!"_ Jasper screamed and was beside the capsule in a flash, and her fist burst through an empty chamber. Her skin sliced and shards flew but she didn't care. Her eyes were wild and murderous, her fangs gnashed together menacingly towards the child. Rather then cower, Steven stood up tall in the capsule and challenged her with a glare.

"Jasper..." Peridot was shocked and confused. "What is he talking about?"

The gem whirled on her. "MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS AND JUST FIX THE SHIP!" she roared, her eyes flooding with tears. Peridot stumbled back, horrified. The woman stood there, hunched and panting like a rabid animal.

Steven trembled."Jasper-"

"SHUT UP!" This time she punched the glass, making the child fall. "You don't know ANYTHING about our leader OR our planet! You don't know that I'm...I'm..."

"We both saw it!" Steven cried. "You know that you are, Jasper! They don't care about you! They forced you and other gems together and they never told you! Stop lying to yourself!"

"I'M NOT. LYING TO MYSELF!" She screamed at the child. "SHUT YOUR MOUTH BEFORE I CRUSH YOUR GEM!" Her voice cracked at the end, and a solitary tear slipped from her eye. She clawed at the glass and nearly needed to lean against it for support. Her large hand slid down the glass uselessly, and tearfully, Steven reached out one of his little hands and pressed it against where hers was.

"Jasper..."

All at once, the fusion shoved herself away from the glass and tore at her ears. "Just shut up! You don't...you don't know..." Her voice trailed off. She tore at her hair. She nearly fell to her knees. "You don't..." She needed something desperately. Confirmation. Confirmation that this brat was just spewing lies and so was her mind.

She punched a button and Yellow Diamond immediately appeared. Her mouth lifted into a delighted smirk at the sight of the child in the pod. "Wonderful, General. I see you're calling to give me some good news! Is that the Quartz child?"

Jasper ignored everything she said and just answered with one desperate blurt. "Am I a forced fusion?!"

Yellow Diamond's eyes widened and she seemed incredibly stunned. "What?" she asked.

"Are you talking to our Superior?" Peridot asked as she came down on the lift. She paused at how the other woman was shaking. "...Jasper?"

"I said am I a forced fusion, Superior?!" Jasper demanded, more desperately. "Am I a forced fusion?!"

Yellow Diamond was silent for a long moment. Then, her slanted face became impassive. "How peculiar. It's incredibly rare that any gem remembers the process."

Jasper almost crumbled against the panel as her knees went weak and the world shattered beneath her. "What?" she managed meekly.

Yellow Diamond tapped her chin, almost observant. "Usually after the fusion the subject begins to lose its memory and see themself as a single being."

Peridot stared from Jasper to Yellow Diamond in horror. "What? What are you saying, Superior?"

"It's true," was all Jasper practically whimpered. She hadn't whimpered since she was a cub. "You fused some damaged gems together to make me...as a weapon."

"You should be prideful, General," Yellow Diamond said simply. "Out of all the fusion experiments you were the most successful. You were incredibly strong, even when the subjects used to make you were incredibly defective."

Peridot gaped in horror, but Jasper seemed to have stopped functioning completely. "Su...Superior..."

"Besides, it's no different then the cluster-"

"It's entirely different from the cluster!" Jasper suddenly shouted. "The cluster was meant to be a punishment for the rebellion on the treasonous gems! But I—but they..." She trailed off, sickened by the thought of the gemlings that were forced to go through this. "I never did anything to you! I've been loyal to you since my HARVEST! I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG!"

"You're a successful war experiment-"

"I NEVER ASKED TO BE AN EXPERIMENT!" Jasper almost wailed. Peridot stood there, shaking. She had no idea what to do. "I thought I achieved my rank because of my strength and my skill! I thought I was a powerful asset!"

"You are," Yellow Diamond said simply. "And that wouldn't be possible if it wasn't for the fusion. You should be thankful for it."

"Superior..." Peridot was appalled. Her stomach twisted and suddenly as she looked around at the amalgamation of mutants around the room she was filled with terror. "How..how could you have done this? To her? To...others? This—this was meant to be a consequence of the rebellion—how could you have done this to your own subjects? We pledged our lives to you, Superior! The entire empire is loyal to you—us included!"

"I'm aware," Yellow Diamond said coolly. "It's easy to keep the loyalty when no one remembers the process. This isn't the same as the cluster," she chuckled. "The cluster is to force those treacherous Crystal Gems to suffer for their betrayal, but fusion among Homeworld is simply to build a stronger army, and stronger soldiers!"

"We are sentient beings!" Peridot cried. "We aren't supposed to simply be used as weapons! If this is what you did to Jasper then what did you do to me?"

Yellow Diamond scoffed. "Oh I did nothing to you. You were simply a useless little gemling that somehow found herself in the top ranks in technology out of luck."

Jasper snarled. "Don't you dare talk about her that way..."

"Are you disrespecting your Superior, General?" Yellow Diamond demanded in a cold, threatening voice. "Your mission was to check on the Cluster and destroy those traitorous Crystal Gems."

"Traitorous?!" Jasper snapped. "The Crystal Gems just left Homeworld for another planet! You've been blinding our entire society while you experiment on your own subjects under everyone's nose!"

Yellow Diamond sneered. "Oh go ahead, Fusion. Turn your back on Homeworld, I dare you. Turn your back on _us._ Where will you and your Subordinate go? Do you truly believe that the Crystal Gems will accept you?" She laughed harshly. "Are you willing to just wander the planet uselessly for the rest of eternity?"

Jasper went silent.

"All you have is the Empire. It's all you've known. It's what you were bred for. So what if you aren't who you think you are? It's not like you'll be any use anywhere else. Experiment or not, you've served your use well." She almost purred, eyes cold and manipulating as a smile slid over her face. "You have been a powerful asset to the war. Look at what your fusion allowed you to accomplish!" Her smile widened. "And you..." She looked to Peridot. "If it weren't for Jasper you'd hardly be any worth to anyone."

Both gems were silent.

"You know this temper tantrum is pointless. Neither of you would turn against Homeworld. It's the only thing that makes you worth anything."

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Steven suddenly roared, slamming the glass. Hate burned into his young eyes. "They're worth everything even without you! Peridot is smart and you didn't make her that way! She was made smart! And Jasper is strong no matter what! They both are! They had to be to get through the nightmares YOU PUT THEM THROUGH! They're stronger then you'll ever be! You're just...just a COWARD that sends other gems to do your dirty work!"

Yellow Diamond gave a loud cackle that screeched across the airwaves. "Oh bold, aren't you, you little parasite? But I knew that, you were that way even before the rebellion, Rose."

Steven sneered and his gem flared with his and his mother's rage. "It's Steven Universe. And some day we're gonna take you down!"

"Oh it'll be hard to do that, won't it?" Yellow Diamond sneered. "When I rip apart your fleshy form and yank that gem out of your stomach."

"You just try it!" Steven yelled back. His gem glowed brighter. "We are good and good will never be defeated!"

Yellow Diamond rolled her eyes and glared at Jasper, who was still completely silent. "I'm tired of the creature's incessant chatter. Fusion, rip that gem from his stomach." Jasper and Peridot's eyes widened.

Golden eyes turned to look back at the helpless boy in the capsule, and she looked to Peridot. Then, eyes glazed over like ice, Jasper coldly, silently strode towards the pod. Steven whimpered and backed up desperately in the glass.

"Jasper, please...no!" He choked out a sob as Jasper ripped open the pod and yanked him up by his shirt collar.

Yellow Diamond's demonic grin became wider. "Do it now, Fusion. Reach into that parasite and rip that gem from his stomach."

Jasper's cold golden eyes slid towards the child in her grasp. They narrowed in on his tear stained swollen face. Her grip tightened on his collar and he tried futilely to escape.

"Jasper..." the boy begged, biting back a sob. "Please... Please don't do it. They don't care about you there. They don't care...about any of you! I know you didn't ask to be a fusion! You didn't ask for anything that they did to you and...you didn't...deserve it!" He was outright crying now. "But you're more then just a war machine!"

"Do it now, fusion," Yellow Diamond crooned. "You know who you really are..." The look on Yellow Diamond's face was almost coaxing, menacingly. Her smirk was cold, quiet, like a mother cat coaxing its young to hunt.

Jasper looked at the sobbing boy in her grasp and then her blank stare moved to Peridot. The green gem was just standing there, frozen, wide-eyed.

Suddenly it clicked. Jasper gave a slow, almost nonchalant nod. "You're right, I do." She lifted Steven up higher over her head. Her other hand formed into a menacing claw that neared the helpless child. But after a moment, her hand clenched into a fist and struck past the boy to the tubes behind him, shattering it with a devastating smash.

Jasper whirled to a shocked Yellow Diamond with one single, cold smirk. "But you don't." Her fist smashed into another tube, the skin tearing and bleeding but she hardly noticed. The hand holding Steven suddenly chucked him at Peridot and the green gem grabbed the child and just stared, stricken.

"GO!" Jasper roared through the breaking of glass and the terrifying sound of screams and shrieks that resounded through the air. A torrent of limbs suddenly spilled over Jasper's form and engulfed her completely.

Peridot ran, fighting to hold onto the screaming and struggling child. "NOOO! JASPERR!" His screech rivalled the sounds of breaking glass and roars of the enraged fusions that echoed through the cave.

* * *

 _(A/N:...I warned you, didn't I?)_


	6. Chapter 6

_(A/N: Thanks for all the reviews and love guys! Here's a little down chapter (sorta) to even out the heartbreak that I slaughtered you all with in the last one! This one mostly focuses on Peridot and Steven-wooot! Also, I have a tumblr. It's nevenger, and I'm in the process of making possibly an art blog for this fic. Maybe even an ask blog? C: Hope you all follow! Enjoy!)_

* * *

Peridot's digital fingers began to rapidly spin, helicoptering to the top of the hole as fast as she could. She kept a vice grip on the kicking child. "Hold still, you larva!"'

"We have to go back!" the boy wailed. "We have to save her! I don't want her to get hurt!" When they emerged to the surface of Kindergarden they saw they weren't alone. Four gems stood, poised and ready to attack. They balked at the sight of a hated enemy holding onto their boy. "Peridot!" Garnet snarled, gauntlets drawn and ready to fight. "Let Steven go NOW!"

The green gem gave a snarl. "You don't underst-" She was cut off by the sounds of a devastating blast below as fire and smoke leaped from the hole. Steven screamed and ducked his face into Peridot, but the green gem's face was just full of terror. "JASPER!"

The Crystal Gems halted and stared at the leaping flames in shock, and back at the two shaking and terrified forms now on the ground. Steven pushed out of Peridot's arms and bolted towards the hole.

"STEVEN!" Garnet screamed and dashed after the child. But pushing himself into the hole, he ignored her and fell. Landing hard on the tile below, his vision was encased in red flames. All Steven could see was fire. Fire, everywhere. And somewhere in there, a tangle of limbs and angry and agonized screeches from the fusions that escaped. Tears of fear and smoke blinded the boy, but he summoned his bubble and persisted through the room. "Jasper!"

"Steven!" Garnet shouted from the fire somewhere and the boy felt himself be lifted up into her arms. "We need to get out of here!"

"NO!" The child roared furiously and he popped his bubble, leaping from her arms. "Not without Jasper! I'm not leaving her here!" Garnet clenched her fists, but she realized that it was useless to argue with the child. ...And if she was honest with herself she didn't want to leave the gem to die either.

"Okay. Bubble up," she ordered the boy, and he immediately did so. "You have thirty seconds, and that's it." The child tore over to the other side of the room, and searched around through the broken glass, staring in horror at the flailing limbs.

"G...Garnet, we have to save them!"

Garnet bit her lip and tried to ignore the screeching of her once-friends. She teared up and shook her head. "Th-there's no time, it's too late for them. Search for Jasper!"

The boy bit back a sob but he sorted through the glass and muck, just desperately searching for any sight of gold. It was right when Garnet grabbed him to take him out that he saw it: a cracked golden shard in the rubble. The boy grabbed it and hugged it as close as he could, this time letting Garnet grab him.

The gems above screamed when they saw an explosion, fire leaping with the smoke and forming what almost looked like a mushroom cloud. "Steven!" Pearl shrieked. "Jasper!" Peridot screamed.

From in the smoke two silhouettes emerged. Garnet stood, dirty and burnt with a shivering and softly sobbing little boy in her arms. "We're alright." She gently set the boy down and Peridot ran over.

"Jasper!" The green gem snatched the golden stone from the child's hands and her visor fogged with tears when she saw the large cracks in it. "Oh-oh no! Her gem—it's damaged!" The gems were almost surprised at the emotion they saw on Peridot's face, but none of them knew what Steven did. "Her gem is cracked! It..." Her voice broke.

"How did you all even know I was here?" the boy asked, wiping away tears and soot. "I was being as quiet as I could and no one was around!"

Pearl looked over at their newest addition, who up until this moment had remained a silent bystander through all of this. "Lapis heard you and when she couldn't find you in your bed she had a feeling this was where you would be. So she alerted us."

Both eyes met for the first time since their fight, although Lapis's immediately averted to the ground quietly, and rather guiltily. Steven's chest went tight and he quietly approached his friend. He rubbed his own arms guiltily, voice a mere tremble.

"Lapis, I'm sorry. I..I never meant to make you feel like your feelings didn't matter! Of course I care about what Jasper did to you and I know it was bad, I just..." He trailed off into a frail whimper and his body began to shake. Tears fell rapidly from his eyes. "I just... I wanted to give her a chance and I...I knew Yellow Diamond was bad and I wanted...I wanted..." The ordeal finally took its toll on the boy as he crumbled to the ground, hands over his face as he sobbed. Lapis was at his side within two seconds and had picked him up in her arms within one.

"I know Steven..." The child buried his face into her chest.

Garnet's face was solemn and she looked down at the shaking and crying green gem. It was impossible to be hateful to anyone in that state. "Are you hurt?" Trembling, clutching the injured jasper to her, Peridot shook her head.

"Hey, Peridot..." Steven said gently, trying to put his hand near the well guarded gemstone. "I might be able to help if you let me." He didn't know if he had his healing powers, but he could try. "I...I used to have healing powers. If I still got 'em I can help her."

Peridot looked at the orange shard in her hand and distrustingly at the boy. She held it close. "How am I supposed to believe that you won't crush it?"

"I won't," the boy said gently, his eyes as sincere and soft as could be. He held out his hand and slowly, reluctantly, Peridot placed it in his palm.

"So what are we going to do with miss meanie zuchini over there?" Amethyst grunted, glaring at their threat that looked like nothing more then a terrified child holding onto her own knees like a security blanket.

"That's a good question." Garnet looked over at the child sitting next to the green gem. "Steven...what do you think we should do?"

Rubbing a caring finger over the indents of the cracks on Jasper's gem, the boy looked up at her earnestly. "We're the Crystal Gems...and we help everyone in need. ...Right?" Garnet smiled and ruffled his curls affectionately.

"...Right."

"Wait, Garnet," Pearl spluttered. "You can't be serious! We can't just take home one of our enemies! She's been trying to destroy us and our planet! We can't trust her!"

Garnet looked at the slimmer gem. "In the past, Rose would decide what to do in this scenario, but we don't have Rose. We have the next best thing." She looked down at the boy. "Steven, your call."

Steven looked from the trembling green gem at his side to the damaged one in his hands. He gave it a gentle squeeze and nodded firmly back at Garnet. "No gems left behind."

"No gems left behind," Garnet agreed with a small smile. It faded as her eyes narrowed in on Peridot, and they became more fierce as she scowled. "But you... if you do anything to try and hurt any of us, or this planet, I will personally shoot you back to Homeworld myself in a canon," she hissed.

Instead of screeching with rage and indignity of being scolded like a gemling, Peridot just nodded rapidly to anything they said. "I'm not interested in mayhem—just please..." she begged in a tiny voice. "Please help Jasper..."

"That we can do," Garnet promised quietly. She turned with the other confused and apprehensive gems and started towards the warp pad. Pearl and Amethyst exchanged looks.

"So...that's it then?" Pearl blinked, trying to comprehend all of this. "We're just taking our enemies home with us?"

"We are," Garnet said, the clipped tone daring her tea mates to question the decision. They didn't. The group stepped on the warp pad, but nothing happened. Garnet stomped a foot down on the pad, but it remained motionless. She bent down. "The explosion must have done something," she muttered, worriedly scanning over the pad.

"Does that mean the warp pad isn't going to work?" Steven asked, eyes wide. Garnet nodded grimly.

"We could...try to wait for it to work if it's simply down, but..." She looked over at the jasper in Steven's arms. "I don't think Jasper has that kind of time." As she said this, the gem split slightly more and Peridot let out a distressed noise. "She needs healing."

Steven trembled as all eyes went to him, especially Peridot. Wide and desperate. He was the only hope and he didn't like it. He looked down at the gem in his hand. It split more, reminding him that he was on borrowed time. Hastily, the boy licked the gem, much to Peridot's disgust. And as he feared, it did nothing.

"What are you doing, Quartz child?" she snapped. "Jasper's gem doesn't need to be cleaned—it needs to be healed! You have Rose Quartz's gem, and I don't imagine this will be a problem for _you-_ so cry on it!"

"No—I-I'm supposed to have healing spit!" His eyes filled anyway. "But lately it hasn't been working!" He started panicking and shaking. It was their only hope if the warp pad was down. "I—it won't...it won't work!"

"Peridot is there any alternative way to get back to the temple?" Garnet asked. "Surely with all of your technology you've created something."

"Th-there is the ship, but we are still in the process of completing it! Most of my tools have been destroyed by the blast. It isn't complete. I don't even have...the blue prints anymore. B-but I may be able to improvise it. I do not think I can do it on my own!"

"You won't have to," Pearl toned in, already summoning things from her gem as she fell to her knees with the other one. "The fire didn't damage the accelerator too badly, that's good. But we're missing some wiring here..." The two gems mused and talked formulas and blueprints to each other while Steven looked over to Garnet. "What can I do?" he begged.

Garnet threaded her fingers through his locks. "Keep Jasper company." She gave him a gentle push. It wasn't aggressive but Steven knew what that and her order kindly suggested: stay out of the way.

The boy numbly made his way over to the side of Kindergarden's cliff and slid down against the rocks. The injured jasper plinked softly into his lap and Steven grazed his hand over the gem like he was stroking a small cat.

"How you holding up, dude?" Amethyst sat next to the kid and ruffled his hair gently. "You smell like burnt fry bits. At least we got here before they sliced you up or auctioned your parts off around Homeworld or something."

"They weren't going to do that Amethyst," he sniffled. "Jasper didn't want to give me up, I could tell. And sh-she saved me at the end. She..." He hiccuped. "Both me and Peridot. I-I don't want her to die Amethyst."

The purple gem slipped her plump arm around the child's shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze. "Hey, you know how nerdy and techy Pearl is, and she's with a science freak. Two geeks on the go means double the time to get...you know, geeky stuff done." That didn't seem to calm the child, who just kept rubbing the gem and softly crying over it.

"I-I wish I had healing tears! So many have fallen by now that I'd have healed her for years to come!"

Amethyst frowned. "Man, you've really grown attached to her, huh?" She tucked her arms around her head. "I don't know how you do it buddy, just...being able to love everyone so easily." She smiled sadly. "You really are like your mom."

"Did Mom...did Mom try to be friends with the gems that were supposed to be her enemies?"

"Oh all the time!" Amethyst laughed. "That's what got her in trouble a lot. Your mom saw the good in everyone and she'd try to bring it out—kind of like you. She wanted to love everyone, but...well, you can't do that in a war. Some times Rose could get through to other gems, and then they'd join us!" She smiled. "The Crystal Gems used to be...a lot bigger you know. A huge team. But now..." She shrugged. "We're the soul survivors."

"Did Jasper ever know Mom?" Steven asked, looking down at the golden gem.

"Yep, that's a loaded story actually. They both used to work for the Diamonds! Jasper was a general and Rose was next in line to become a Diamond-until she got to earth anyway! And they just hated each other! At first..."

But they were both interrupted by the sounds of a quiet cracking noise, like the sound of splitting ice; just as deadly and just as frightening. "Ahhh! Oh no, she's cracking more!" The boy jumped to his feet, panicking. There was a fair sized split up the gemstone. "Guys!" The boy whimpered. "Guys I don't think she has much time!"

The spare ship suddenly made a loud popping noise and began to smoke and shudder. "Oh now look what you did you clod! You ruined it! I told you that those parts didn't go there!"

Pearl gave the green gem a withering glare. "I ruined it?" she snapped. "You're the one that lost the blueprints to this stupid thing!"

"THEY DISINTEGRATED IN THE FIRE!"

"If you're as skilled and advanced as you CLAIM to be you shouldn't need a piece of paper to know how to work this stupid thing!"

"Would you care to see how ADVANCED my lasers are?"

"GUYS!" Steven yelled, stamping his foot in rage. "Can't you stop fighting for at least ten minutes?! What's the matter with you both? We've gotta get home and we have to fix Jasper! Your arguing is not gonna fix the ship! Sh-she's not gonna make it at this rate!" He teared up again.

The rising hysteria in the child started to spark it in Peridot. "The ship won't be done until—I estimate at least thirty nine minutes—forty if the Pearl destroys anything else!"

"Jasper doesn't have that kind of time!" Steven cried. "I don't even think she's got fifteen more minutes! We need Mom's fountain NOW!"

Garnet shook her head. "No Steven, we need you." She put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "She needs you." She looked at the dying gem in the child's hands. Steven's eyes filled again and he shook his head.

"It won't work!"

"Yes it will." She placed her hands firmly on his shoulders. "If you just focus..."

He gazed down at the golden stone in his hands and back at the several pairs of eyes on him. He took a deep breath in and furrowed his brows. "Focusing..." Firmly grabbing the gem, he didn't break eye contact with it as he licked up the crack and just thought about making her better. Nothing happened, and Steven lost it.

"I can't do it! I...I can't do it!" Unable to throw what he was holding in a rage he elected to stamp his feet instead. "I can NEVER do what I'm supposed to do when I NEED TO!" Large tears filled the boy's eyes as the deepest sense of failure and self loathing fell on his heart. "I can't!" He sobbed. "Jasper is gonna die and it's all because of me! Because I'm a failure as a gem again! And because I am, she's going to die!"

"Steven," Pearl gasped. "That isn't true!"

"It is true and you all know it!" the boy cried. He shoved the cracked jasper back into Peridot's hands and turned away from them all. He hugged himself tightly, rubbing at his own shoulders to try and comfort himself. Hearing a pair of footsteps behind him, he assumed it was one of the Crystal Gems until he heard her nasally voice.

"Quartz...it's Steven, correct?"

The sniffling boy turned to her, face a dripping mess of tears and mucus. "I can't do it Peridot. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, but I just...can't! I'm not strong like my mom, and I don't know how to use half of my powers! I shouldn't have gotten your hopes up when I said I could heal her." He drew away from her, put his head in his knees.

"Homeworld has some of the most advanced technology that the universe has ever seen," Peridot began. "Our technology in fact is years ahead of its time and centuries above what ever mediocre gadgets your have on this pitiful rock. Not even a gem with Jasper's strength would be able to fight them...but you eased through out our ship like it was nothing. Through the barrier, yanked the destabilizer from my hand..."

Steven looked at her.

"And the laser canon. One of the strongest weapons the ship had in its arsenal, built by my brilliant mind I feel like adding; it was no match for your shield. Yellow Diamond wanted your capture for a reason, Steven human. You are a threat to us." She rephrased, eyes cold. "Them... You are a threat to them. You possibly have the potential to be the strongest warrior our race has ever seen."

Tear filled, awestruck eyes looked up at her. "I do?"

"You do. Confidence is the key, believing in yourself. That is how Jasper and I always succeeded. We believed in our own abilities and our cause. That is how your mother won the war, confidence. Confidence is your only chance right now. A gem can not simply lose their abilities, but fear can cause it to go into hiding. You came here because of Jasper, even when you were put into danger." Peridot shut her eyes morosely and put a hand on her chest. "Tonight we caused great harm to you, and for that I apologize."

They were words she never imagined she would utter, not to their supposed enemies. Harm to them was what they were supposed to cause...but that was before they learned their so called leader valued them as nothing more then pawns and science projects, and their supposed enemies were the only ones that had been genuine this entire time.

"If you can heal my comrade...I will be forever grateful. You have powers far beyond what Yellow Diamond possesses and she feared you for a reason. So surely...you can heal a simple gem."

The child gave a wobbly smile and looked back at the jasper in his hand. It cracked more, almost as a taunt. It was seconds away from completely shattering. _Believe in Steven, believe in Steven, believe in Steven..._ He licked it. Hope was lost when the gem didn't react, but slowly, it began to glow. Stars appeared in the boy's eyes with his tears as the jasper healed completely.

"I did it! STEVEN THE HEALER IS BACK!" He pumped his fists. The always serious look on the green gem's face seemed to tilt upwards slightly, relief flooding through her as the jasper shone healthily.

"So when is she going to come out?" the child demanded excitedly. "Soon right? Like...really soon?"

Peridot shook her head. "She was caught in an explosion, Steven human. I imagine it will be a long waiting process. If the fusions got to her, there's all sorts of wounds she could have. Lacerations, burns, broken bones..."

The child shuddered as she went on with the hypothetical medical horrors and looked over when he saw fire leap from one of the ship's engines. "Is it working?!"

"Almost."

The child looked at the pacing green gem holding the jasper to her chest and back at his family as they worked away on the ship, that was finally starting to run. What was it going to be like now, having the two Homeworld gems as part of their wayward family?

Peridot just stood there, bewildered and suddenly without the purpose she had known and the place she called home. Even her lab was destroyed. Right now the only remnant of her old life was there in her hands...

"So what are you guys going to do now?" Steven asked softly. Surely they wouldn't even think about going back to a place as awful as Homeworld when they had just learned that they were flat out nothing more then toys to be played with. "About...Homeworld I mean?"

"I..." The green gem shook her head, utterly lost. "I don't know." She looked back down to the jasper in her hand. "Right now my...my priorities lie on getting Jasper back, and then..." Wide, pained green eyes stared down at the dirt under their feet. "I...I just don't know."

Steven's brows creased in concern and he smiled gently at the gem. "Hey..." But when he touched her shoulder, she recoiled as if someone had burned her. And knowing why she was afraid of being touched just made it even sadder. "Why don't we just start over? We're all starting a new chapter now, and it looks like it's gonna be together. We didn't exactly get off on the right foot before."

He held out his hand to her. "Hi, I'm Steven Quartz Universe! I'm a Crystal Gem, and I love donuts."

She stared at his hand as he held it out to her, head tilting in confusion until she finally just asked, "what are you doing?"

"It's a handshake! It's what we do here when you're introducing yourself!" Awkwardly, the green gem wiggled one of his fingers.

"...Peridot. So far that's the only introduction I can give you, since I have no idea what my identity is anymore."

Steven frowned sympathetically and gave her hand a light pat of sympathy. "That's okay, 'cause...now you can figure out a new identity! Here on earth!"

The Homeworld gem made a sour expression, looking like she'd rather walk off a pit rather then be there. "Joy..." But she turned when the ship's engines began to blare, and followed the boy over to the vessel. Her face screwed up when she saw Pearl in the front seat and she shoved her out of the pilot's chair like a child on the school ground.

"Move over, Clod! This is my vessel and I'll be piloting it!"

The engines roared to life as Peridot's fingers dismembered and probed at the large touch screen. "Let's see if I remember how to use one of these archaic machines!"

"Great, can we go to The Big Donut as a pit stop? Steven's hungry."

* * *

 _(A/N: Welcome to the family, Homeworld gems! I wonder how this is going to turn out now! Also, my love for Peridot skyrocketed after "Friend Ship." Who else headcanons that Peridot is a somewhat younger gem that's constantly blowing shit up and ruining things trying to help and Jasper has to be her escort to keep an eye on her? XD Because I totally headcanon that...)_


	7. Chapter 7

"Do you think she's cold?" Steven asked quietly as he cradled the jasper in his arms like a small infant. "Is there a blanket anywhere on this ship we can use on her?"

Peridot grunted. "I don't know, Steven human. I don't imagine, the temperatures of our bodies has never been something gems need to concern themselves over, unlike you mere humans."

Garnet slipped her arm around the boy's shoulder. "I know you're worried about her Steven, but now that her gem is healed Jasper is going to be just fine. All we have left to do now is wait... I don't know how long it will take. She could have been badly damaged."

"Who knows if she'll even come out," Amethyst mumbled quietly. Pearl shot her a glare as Steven's face filled with horror.

"What do you mean she might not come out?!" Steven whimpered. He tightened his grip on the jasper. "You said she'd be okay!"

"Yeah she will, but I don't know if after all of this she'll even want to come out. Nobody could blame her. There were times I poofed into my gem and I thought about just staying in it."

"She can really do that?" Steven asked, wiping his face. "She can stay in there forever? B-but isn't that the equivalent of being dead?"

Garnet shook her head. "To us it would look like it. Her gem would lie dormant but she'd still be alive inside it. It's like...staying in a box forever. You can hear things, but you can't interact with the world."

"Jasper is a strong gem!" Peridot snapped. "She would never hide away and refuse to face the world! She's a soldier!"

"Yeah a soldier that was just told she's just a mash up of mutants! How would you feel being betrayed by the ones that created you?"

"I WAS!" Peridot roared, taking her aggression out on the steering wheel and causing the ship to jerk in the air. Steven yelped and almost fell off the seat. He clutched Jasper to his chest. "Stop it guys! You're probably upsetting her..."

"Steven's right," Garnet said sharply. It was a tone Amethyst and Pearl knew well and they shut their mouths immediately. Even Peridot quieted, wary. "The last thing any of us needs right now is arguing, and it certainly isn't going to coax Jasper out. Let's just..." She sighed. "Let's go home."

* * *

Peridot landed the ship on the arm of the temple and turned off the engines. She fell against the pilot's seat, but Garnet had her by the scruff of her neck before she could even blink. "What are you doing?"

"I don't trust you on my life." She dragged the green gem into the house and deposited her onto the warp pad. "Garnet!" Steven ran up next to her. "What are you doing?! We're not imprisoning them! We're supposed to be the safe space for them!"

"And we are." They arrived in the room that housed bubbled gems and Garnet dropped Peridot. "But we also have to take precautions." She looked around the room. "This room is for incapacitated gems and for now it's where you will both stay. Steven, give her Jasper."

The boy's mouth creased and he held the gem inadvertently tighter. He reluctantly relinquished it to Peridot, and Peridot clutched it close. Without a word, Garnet disappeared into the warp pad in a single flash of light, and Peridot and Steven were alone.

Peridot stared down at the jasper in her hands, which were quickly beginning to shake. She pulled her knees up, balling against the wall. The gem gave a sound of distress and she flicked something on the side of her visor. The lenses thickened and she covered her face with her hands.

"Peridot," Steven began softly.

"Leave me be, Quartz child!" the gem shrieked angrily. Her small body began to shudder. She whimpered and Steven could see tears roll down the green gem's face.

"It's...it's gonna be okay," the boy said quietly. He approached her, slow and cautious. He wanted to touch her, but he didn't know what her reaction would be. "She'll be okay and you'll be okay."

"Leave!"

Steven's face crumpled with despair but he did what he was told. "I'll come check on you tomorrow." The tears had already built in his eyes when he reached the pad, and luckily he was away from Peridot when he began to fall as his small body trembled.

"Steven?" When he heard the panic to Pearl's voice it just made him cry even more. He turned away but the gem was there in an instant, in front of him and trying to get him to look at her. "Steven? Steven, what's wrong? Did she hurt you?" He shook his head rapidly and just made a choked, sobbing noise.

"Oh Steven..." Pearl tucked him close and held the sobbing boy to her. She rose with him after a moment, holding the child as she had when he was even smaller and could fit in her arms perfectly. She sat down on the couch with him. "You've had to deal with so much tonight..."

He really had and he was at his limit. He was confused and worried and sore. It took until now to realize that his back was burning from...whatever they had attacked him with, and he had some cuts and a few minor burns.

"Lapis told us that you might be in Kindergarden but she never said why," Pearl began gently. "Steven how on earth did you get to Kindergarden and _why?"_

"I just wanted to help her!" the boy wailed, pulling back from Pearl's shirt. "I just wanted to help Jasper! I know she's a forced fusion and I know that d-deep down she's scared and I just want to help her! Sh-she told me she wanted to see me and I-I went...!"

"What did they do to you?" Pearl demanded, examining the boy. Out of this whole thing she almost forgot that they had abducted Steven. "What did those monsters do to you?!"

"Don't call them monsters Pearl!" Steven snapped through a sniffle. "I-I'm okay, they didn't really hurt me." He didn't want her to freak out over the burn. "Sh...she saved me," he whispered. "Jasper re-released the fusions and she threw me and Peridot out of there so we wouldn't get hurt! She saved us both!"

Pearl's eyes widened. "She released the fusions?"

"Y-yeah! She turned right to Yellow Diamond and defied her! Right in her face!"

"Whoa-whoa!" From at the fridge, Amethyst nearly dropped her sandwich. "Hang on there, Bro. You...you saw... _Yellow Diamond?"_

He shuddered from the memory. Those cold, piercing yellow eyes, the jagged smile. The true, unvarnished evil... "Yes!" he cried and his tears started anew. He couldn't bring himself to tell them that this was the second time he had seen her. "And—and she's—she's awful and scary and mean! She said really horrible things about them!" He whimpered and balled up in Pearl's arms, remembering all the threats she had given him. "A-and she threatened to kill me and ev-everyone I love!"

"Oh Steven!" Pearl teared up herself and crushed the boy to her chest. "I'm so sorry you had to see that-that awful..." She couldn't find a word vulgar enough and just kept hugging the crying boy. "We won't let her hurt you! We will never let her hurt you!"

"Wh-what about Jasper and Peridot?" he whimpered. "She wants them too. She already said such terrible things. H...how can someone be so...so evil?"

A sudden gentle two hands placed on his shoulder and Steven turned to see Garnet crouched down near him. She took off her visor. "Steven, sometimes there is just evil. Sometimes there is no good to be found in someone. But I will promise you this...as long as Jasper and Peridot are with us we will protect them too." She smiled softly to the boy. "Remember what you said?"

Steven struggled to recall, but when he did he gave a wobbling smile. "No gems left behind?"

"No gems left behind..." Garnet sat down next to Pearl and Amethyst sandwiched them all on the other side as the team gathered around the boy and took turns comforting him. "Steven, I know you've been through a lot tonight," Garnet said gently. "You must be exhausted." The other two gems nodded in agreement and Pearl stood with the child in her arms.

"It's time to sleep Steven..." He looked like he wanted to resist, but his eyes were half lidded, head drooping against the woman's shoulder. She brought him to bed, laying him down as tenderly as you would an infant.

"So tired..." Steven mumbled, his eyes closing. "So tired..." He saw her face before he shut his eyes. "Jasper..."

* * *

It had been a while since she had been inside of her gem. In the military you weren't really given the opportunity to spend too much time in your gem. Often the military would force gems from their stone—sometimes before they even had the chance to regenerate. It was a grisly sight to see; not all of the gems would be fully formed or healed. Some would be missing limbs, the others might have gaping wounds. And then sometimes regeneration took too long for Homeworld's liking and they'd crush the recovering gems.

So Jasper never was able to enjoy regeneration. It was all and all a peaceful process. Gems didn't feel any pain inside of their stones, although any afflicted injury was visible on their body. As it was right now Jasper could see some burns over parts of her body and several lacerations. They bathed in a light and glowed as the gem did its work.

Inside of the gem was almost like being in a small bubble. You could still hear the world around you and you could even see it if you wanted to, like a small window. Jasper heard a faint whimpering noise and as she walked out further she realized it was someone sobbing.

 _Is that the kid?_ That was her first thought. The brat seemed to be a sensitive soul and cried at the drop of a hat. She wouldn't be surprised if it was him, but she wished he wouldn't cry over _her..._ As she listened closely, she detected the cries and it brought a twist to her stomach.

 _Peridot..._ For a moment Jasper just stood there, frozen and completely helpless. That was definitely her nerdy comrade crying and she wasn't there to shut her up. Her eyes glazed over sadly. She didn't blame Peridot; she felt numb. In a span of a few days she went from being Homeworld's highest regarded General to somebody's science project. She lost her mission, she lost her home. ...Was it ever really a home?

Suddenly, Jasper realized that she wasn't alone. She could hear breathing. It was very soft, and whimpered. She was sure that it was the kid until she turned around. There stood a figure smaller then Steven.

"What the hell?!" She staggered back and instinctively raised her large hand to bring it down on the figure with a snarl. It recoiled in terror.

"Shield!" the small creature shrieked and a yellow barrier put her between Jasper's fist. "Don't hurt me, please! I-I've already had that enough." Jasper lowered her fist and stared in shock. On the gem's face was a yellow jasper. The gem was yellow and looked like a miniature version of her, with shortened hair and a slightly pudgier face. Her eyes were like mirrors and Jasper could see herself in them.

"Are you...blind?" The small gem nodded.

"I'm afraid so. We all have something wrong with us." She gave a little smile. "But maybe that's what makes us special." Jasper just screwed up her face in disgust. "I'm Yellow Jasper, but they call me Yellow."

"Who's they?" Jasper demanded suspiciously. There was footsteps near her and when she turned a red figure stood. She was slightly taller then Yellow but not by much. Her skin was red and so were her eyes, which blazed like gentle embers. Her hair fell nearly to her backside and she was missing an arm.

"We are 'they.' She was kinder, and seemed wiser. She had this know-it-all air to her that reminded Jasper of Peridot. A lot of Peridot. "Back in Homeworld since we were all jaspers we were called by our color. It helped to separate us. My name is Red. We've been waiting to finally meet you."

"Waiting?" a gruffer voice snapped from behind Jasper. There stood the shortest of the gems, but she had Jasper's muscles. "I wasn't waiting for her!"

"Orange," Red hissed.

"We were completely fine without her! It's already crowded in this damn place, we don't need another gem hogging space! She was fine where she was!"

"She was going to regenerate sooner or later, you had to expect to have her here eventually!" Red snapped. "Don't bother lying, you know you wanted to meet her!"

The orange gem's face turned a sunset tinge of embarrassment as she threw a punch that missed the armless gem. "Don't go putting words in my mouth, you nerd!" Jasper stared down at the bickering two. The squabbling reminded her so much of Peridot that she almost laughed. When Orange started to body slam and nudge Red she really saw herself in the small gem.

"You three are all jaspers." It wasn't hard to put two and two together. "So you're...you're what makes me up." There they were, the sentient beings in front of her that made up her very core. The gems that were a part of her. Her entire living being... She wrinkled her face in disdain. "You're all so... _puny."_

"Hey!" Orange snarled. "You'd be puny too if it wasn't for us! In fact, you wouldn't even be ALIVE if it wasn't for us, so shut up!"

"Orange!" Red hissed. "I'm sorry, she's incredibly short tempered, but rest assured we are all happy to see you. We've waited so long to meet you!"

Jasper stared down at the three gems. "You've all been in here...all this time?" They nodded. "Wh—why didn't you ever say anything?!" she spluttered. "I've been in this gem thousands of times to regenerate! I never saw any of you! Not once! If you all wanted to meet me so bad why didn't you show any of your shrimpy little faces?!"

"You didn't know back then," Yellow said softly, looking at the ground. Red put her one hand on her shoulder. "We didn't want you to know," the red gem murmured. Yellow covered her face and even Orange turned away. All the pain Jasper felt came flooding back.

"We never intended on you finding out, if we could help it," Red continued. "You didn't remember us, and what...what happened and we never wanted you to. We hid whenever you regenerated so you wouldn't learn the truth. It was bad enough to live through it, but if we could keep you out of the loop then it would give us some peace."

Jasper's mouth fixed into a trembling line. She balled her fists up.

"We just wanted to protect you," Red continued softly. "You were...all that was left of us." Her eyes teared up slightly and Jasper bit down on her lip harder when she felt her own emotions stirring.

"How did..." Her voice cracked and she had to steady it before she could continue. "How did...this all happen? And...when?"

Red looked at her fellow gems and without a word, she bowed her head. Three red chairs appeared underneath every gem. "We were all harvested together along with several other jaspers. They were put into training immediately, but we were made with...defects. Our gems didn't form correctly or to the proper size. The serum didn't work properly. Normally gems with any malformations would be recycled instantly, but Yellow Diamond had just started a new program and was testing it."

Jasper felt ill. "The fusions."

"She thought by combining compatible gems together she could create larger, more damage resistant gems that would be stronger and more stable. Most of the defects mashed together just created a horrid monstrosity of gems missing limbs and deformed horribly, but there were a few successful ones. Like us..."

"We didn't get much of a chance to know each other either," Red growled. "But that's okay because we spent the next thousand _years_ doing that, all stuck together in one place. You were clueless when you generated for the first time, so we kept our mouths shut."

"But..." Jasper was struggling to wrap her head around this. So many questions answered and so many left unanswered. "That...that isn't fair! Neither one of you were given a chance! You were shoved together from the moment of your harvest! Isn't there anything we can do? To—to try and free you?"

Red shook her head sadly. "We aren't fully formed or functional gems, Jasper. You would have to shatter for us to come out, and I don't even think we would be able to live very long on our own. Our gems can't regenerate. If we're injured that's it for us."

"So you...you're all just stuck here forever?" Jasper asked helplessly. "That's no life to live! You're prisoners in this body!"

"Not exactly," Yellow said, smiling at the other gems. "We have each other's company and we get to watch you live! That's all we really want. As long as some part of us lives we'll be happy."

"But what's the point?!" Jasper snapped. "What am I supposed to live for now? Homeworld is all I've ever known! Peridot and me—that was our life! Our mission..." She shut her eyes. "Our existence."

"You still have Peridot," Yellow smiled. "And you have someone else to help you find your existence." She looked upwards and the surroundings rippled. The sky peeled away and and Jasper found herself staring into a child's eyes.

He couldn't stand to be away from her and when he found Peridot had actually fallen _asleep_ in utter exhaustion, he had to take her back. He was strumming some weird wooden thing. Music played.

" _Oh Jasper I know you think they're good_

 _But they do awful things that no one should_

 _You don't have to be their war machine_

 _Cause there's more to you then we have seen!"_

"You're his enemy," Red said with a smile. "And yet he treats you better then 'home' ever did. There's still a war going on. There's still a side to fight for, and it's up to you to choose what side you want to fight against."

 _"And I just want to help you_

 _I don't want you to be alone_

 _I bet you might like it here_

 _If I show you our home..."_

 _"_ You're not a prisoner anymore and you definitely deserve better then this junky gem." Orange made a face at their surroundings. "So stop being a gemling and regenerate already. Show the world they can't mess with you. Show _Homeworld_ they can't _mess with you."_

Jasper looked around at the three gems and for the first time in days, that determined fire came back in her eyes, which leaped with energy. She rested a hand on Yellow's head and smiled at the other two.

"So does this mean that when I come back you'll be here?" Orange glared at her flatly. "Where else do you think we'd go?"

"If you want us," Red said, smiling. "You can talk to us any time if you want to. We're always here for you when you need us. You never have to worry about being alone." She smiled warmly at the larger gem. Yellow beamed, and after a moment, even Red gave the slightest little smile. Jasper nodded hesitantly and shut her eyes.

Back in a moonlit bedroom Steven's eyes sparkled as the small gem in his hands floated up into the air. A white light emanated from it and it twinkled, taking form. She looked the same, white mane of hair flailing about her shoulders as she opened her eyes. The only difference was that a diamond was nowhere to be seen anywhere over her uniform. She looked down at him. "Kid?"

"Jasper!" Steven squealed, his voice so high pitched in excitement it was almost an inaudible squeak. "Jasper!" That's when he realized that she was hovered over him and was plummeting down. " _Oh..._ " The bed broke as the large gem crashed into it and him.

* * *

(A/N: _R.I.P Steven. I headcanon that inside gems you're able to control and conjure what you wish. Since Red, Yellow and Orange are all part of the same fusion they can do that.)_


	8. Chapter 8

"Brat?" Steven sat up, dazed, probably bruised—possibly even some cracked ribs, but he didn't seem to notice. "Jasper!"

He was happier then he could remember being and he jumped up from where he had been smashed into the mattress, leaping onto the large, rather stunned gem. "Jasper you're really okay! You're back!" He clung to her large chest and hugged it.

Jasper recoiled in shock and it took a moment for her to react. When she did she swatted Steven off like a pesky fly. He rolled onto the mattress starry eyed and teary eyed.

"I'm so happy!" he cried. "I was beginning to think you weren't gonna come back! But you're here, you're alive! You decided to come out!"

Jasper snorted. "Wish I hadn't. It's not like there's anything left for me now. Those jerks on Homeworld betrayed me and this planet wants me dead. And it seems like Homeworld does too. Now I don't even know what the real garbage planet is."

"So why did you come back?"

Jasper looked down at him and gave a small smirk. "Peridork would never be able to survive without me, are you kidding? Do you know how many times I had to save that idiot's ass back on Homeworld? And even after it, keep her from blowing things up-and herself. I was her escort for a reason! She always needed me to protect her."

"She's in the bubble room," Steven said. Jasper stared at him. "It's the room where we bring all corrupted gems until we can figure out how to heal them. Garnet doesn't trust her in the temple." He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "You were in there too but I brought you here."

Jasper looked around the bedroom. It was different then anything she had ever seen. She supposed this is what an earth child's room looked like. There were strange plush things, a small screened box that reminded her of their large projector screens, and controllers and wires.

"So why did you bring me in here?" Jasper raised an eyebrow. "Won't you get in trouble for disobeying one of the gems' orders?"

"Yeah probably," he mumbled. "But Peridot fell asleep, and I guess she was really tired and upset to do that since gems don't have to sleep. You were alone and..." His cheeks flushed pink. "I was gonna put your gem under my covers like I did with Lapis but you wound up regenerating before I even could!"

The large woman just stared down at him, face unreadable. The sweet little smile on the child's face was so foreign to her, and she couldn't fathom how the boy could be so kind to her after all she had done to him. It was either really stupid or really admirable. Or both. One thing she did know though was that his friendly little smile was making her uncomfortable. "So where is this bubble room?"

"It's in the temple," the boy told her. "But I don't think it's a good idea to go there right now 'cause Garnet is guarding it. I just managed to slip by her but I'm pretty sure she'll call me out tomorrow anyway because of her future vision. I don't know if she might try to attack you or not if she sees you out of your gem. The gems still don't trust you guys. ...I guess it's probably because you kidnapped me tonight."

Jasper raised an eyebrow. "...Probably. I can take whatever that fusion can dish out. I'm not interested in fighting right now." She threw up her hands. "Fighting for what?" What was the point? Homeworld's side was what she always fought for but now it seemed she wasn't even part of it. Even if she changed her mind about them, they wouldn't let her back after she released their little _prisoners of war._

"I can take you to Peridot I guess," Steven said, looking worried. "Do you promise that if you run into anyone else...you won't hurt them?"

"I have no reason to," Jasper snapped. The boy glared sternly at her and crossed his arms expectantly. She growled. "Fine, I promise! Okay?"

"I want a pinky promise!" She stared at him like he had three heads.

"I have no idea what the hell that is."

"Pinky promise!" He held up his pinky finger to her, and she just stared at it. Was she supposed to bite it? She was fine with that. "You put your pinky in mine and...it's like a hand shake, but with your finger."

Jasper rolled her eyes and her pinky—which was large enough to wrap around his entire hand—grabbed it and squeezed until Steven heard a crack and squeaked in pain. "There, pinky promise. Take me to Peridot!"

Steven climbed down from his broken bed. It made a loud creaking sound of wood scrapping as he did. The moment Jasper stepped down onto the floor the wood gave a distressed creak. "Shhhh!"

"It's not my fault your foundations are too weak to support my weight!" Jasper hissed. She backed up onto the bed again, which creaked even more from the weight.

"You're really heavy," Steven said bluntly and Jasper just glared at him. "We need to make you less heavy so I can maybe carry you." He sat on the edge of the bed pondering while Jasper looked around the room. Her eyes fell on one of Steven's teddy bears and her gem glowed.

When Steven turned around there was a golden teddy bear on his bed with a diamond shaped nose and an irritated glare. He squeaked out a loud giggle and covered his mouth. "Jasbear." He picked up the teddy bear and started down the steps. They had just reached the living room floor when a sliver of refrigerator light fell over them and revealed a silhouette.

"Hey dude!" Amethyst had her face stuffed with cookies and pickles and there were crumbs all over her face. Steven quickly shoved Jasper into his pocket. "Are you here for one of our nightly midnight snacks? Tonight is pickled smores. They finally got the gurkens I want at the store."

"Uhhh...not tonight Amethyst. My stomach is kinda sore," he lied. "I was just, ummm..."

"Going to see Peridot?" Amethyst guessed. She laughed at the expression of horror on his face. "You think I don't know you or something? Don't worry, I won't tell Garnet-as long as you don't tell her I ate all the chips she just bought for you."

"Awww kettle cooked?" Steven whined. "I didn't even get one..." He mourned as he stared at an empty chip bag for a moment and let out a pained yelp as teeth sunk into his leg through his pocket. "Ow—okay, we're going!" He smacked his pocket.

Amethyst rose an eyebrow. "What was that?"

The boy slid his hand up to his belly and pretended to give it a pat. "Er, I was just talking to my tummy! It's okay tummy, we're going back to bed," he said awkwardly, and waited for the purple gem to turn her back. Once she did he skittered through the portal.

Peridot was still asleep, but she was crying. Jasper poked her head out of Steven's pocket and saw that her gem was glowing and projecting an image into the sky. She climbed out of his pocket and reformed, landing with a thud on the floor.

"I guess she was really tired about everything that happened," Steven said softly. "'Cause she was sleeping when I came and got you."

"What is that floating from her head?" It looked like a memory projection, but she didn't know that could happen when a gem went to sleep.

"It's a dream, I think. A gem's way of dreaming. Humans do it differently, because it doesn't appear in the sky. ...I don't think." He never really watched anyone dream before. "Probably a nightmare since she's crying." Steven's brows furrowed worriedly. "You should go to her and I...guess I'll see you tomorrow? I need some sleep." Jasper turned away from him, but he grabbed her arm. "Oh wait, if you...do catch Garnet around can you please not tell her that I took you out of this room?"

"You want me to pinky promise that one as well?" Jasper drawled. He nodded and she rolled her eyes and grabbed his pinky as he finally disappeared into the warp pad. Now it was just her and the sleepy sobs.

She recognized those cries from eons ago. They were just as whiny and obnoxious as they had always been, making her ears ring. She didn't show it much, but Jasper knew that Peridot was quite a cry baby under all the fake stoicism beneath that visor. She never cried unless she was alone though, or thought she was.

Jasper looked up at the projection. It was a memory of when the two were enrolled in the higher division for the first time, and one of the many times where Jasper protected the younger one from white hot prods of their disciplinary sticks. She always bared the brunt of the damage from protecting Peridot.

Jasper gave a quiet endeared snort. She was no different then that dorky kid she used to be. She crept behind the green gem and abruptly fell onto her backside behind the younger one, making the ground shake and waking the tearful gem.

"What's the problem now, short stuff? Are big mean gems picking on you again?" she snickered. Peridot whirled to her.

"Jasper!"

"Yeah," the large gem drawled. "Back in the flesh." She was taken aback as the green gem launched at her and attached like Velcro, clambering to her like her life depended on it. She attached with her fingers and both feet clung around her waist as she shamelessly bawled.

"Wha—come on!" Jasper growled, gritting her teeth as she tried to pry the blubbering gem off of her. What was with people and _hugs_ today? "I'm not your teddy bear, brat!" She kept tugging, but Peridot clung like a burr. "Peridot!" When she finally did manage to remove the weepy thing, she realized that Peridot's detachable fingers were still around her, so she finally gave up.

"You're back. You...you came back!"

"Duh," Jasper snorted. "You'd wind up dead in a ditch if it wasn't for me there to protect you. Admit it, know-it-all, you're completely helpless without me."

Peridot scoffed and hopped off of Jasper, affronted. Oh how Jasper had missed that petulant pout on her face. "Preposterous! I managed just fine when you were swimming with the earth fish! I can do things without you, you know!"

"Yeah in your dreams. And apparently even in them you're as weak and spindly as always." Jasper laughed. "It's by sheer luck that the Crystal Dopes haven't captured you by now. I think it's probably only because they can't fly so you have an advantage there." She flicked Peridot's nose and the green gem scowled at her. She tried to turn away but Jasper grabbed her small face in her palm.

"What about you though?" Her golden eyes flashed with concern. "Are you hurt?" She checked for even minuscule cracks, but Peridot seemed to be fine. "I guess it's good I got you and the Quartz brat out when I did."

Peridot nodded and her gaze trailed around the room. Bubbles floated above them, different colors and all housing deactivated gems. "So this is what they do with corrupted gems?" It was such a foreign concept to them. "They don't...simply destroy them? Or recycle them? What is the point?" she wondered. "If they're tarnished then the Crystal Gems don't have the ability to save them. What makes them think that they do?"

"I don't know," Jasper muttered. "They don't think the same as us. They thought this planet was worth saving to begin with. Then again..." Her eyes hardened. "We thought we had the best planet ever."

"...Why did you release the fusions?" Peridot asked, curious. "You knew they were shards that couldn't be saved regardless." Jasper nodded.

"Yeah I know, but they didn't get a chance, just like me." She looked down. "I couldn't save them, so I had to at least give them peace. I'll never be able to free the forced fusions that made me up. Doing that makes it a little better." Now the gems could rest in peace.

"Are you doing any better?" Peridot asked. She didn't know what else to say, although it was such a stupid question. "I can't imagine what you must have felt."

Jasper touched her gem, as if she was trying to feel the three little lives inside it. "I met them. I was in my gem and I...met them." She had such mixed emotions towards the damaged creatures that made her. It was impossible not to feel some sort of bond with the living beings that were fused together to make her, but she also resented them. She was a walking mutant because of them, but she knew it wasn't their fault... They never asked to be forced together. It was a fate she now realized that no one deserved.

"What were they like?"

Jasper thought back to her conversation with the trio. The shy one; the leader; the little ball of fury that was just like her. "Puny," she admitted. "And weak. It's hard to believe they could make me up." She almost smiled when she heard a hiss in her head she was sure came from Orange. "There's three of them. Too bad you can't meet them." She looked down at Peridot. "You still tired?"

"I suppose," Peridot mumbled, her cheeks flushing a dark green. "There's nothing to do in here. Nothing to fix, nothing to create, and we are not allowed out. And frankly, I don't feel like battling anyone for our freedom tonight."

"Nothing to do," Jasper agreed, huffing. "Nothing to destroy." There were the floating bubbles, but...that didn't feel like a good idea. "How about you wipe the disgusting mucus off your visor and clam up, and I'll tell you about Red, Orange, and Yellow?"

* * *

Peridot fell back to sleep easier then Jasper did. The green gem was always able to relax easier, even back on Homeworld. They never slept, but Peridot found it easy to just sit there in her chair and play around with her tech, while Jasper always had to be on the move. She always needed to be fighting something, to get out the violence that had welled in her chest-unexplainable since her creation. And now, she finally knew why she always felt that way.

Jasper looked down at the small green gem that had begun to lean against her in exhaustion. She would have jerked away to make Peridot wake up, but then she'd have to deal with the lima bean's whining again.

"I didn't think you would have regenerated so quickly."

Jasper whirled around and saw Garnet standing there, expression pensive, her visor blocking her eyes. She prepared to defend herself, but Garnet held up her hand. "I won't hurt you if you don't hurt me. How are you feeling?"

"Fine, I guess. I was thinking of staying in there forever. I would have if it wasn't for this idiot." She jerked a thumb down to Peridot. "This gemling is helpless without her bodyguard."

Garnet nodded and said nothing else. She sat down beside the gem, much to Jasper's surprise. "How are you doing?"

She didn't answer the question, and instead just asked her own. "Why do you do it? Why do you choose to be..." She gestured to Garnet, her eyes narrowed in frustration and confusion. "...This? You have a choice to be your own separate gems and you refuse to choose it! Why?"

Garnet gazed straight forward at Jasper, and the pain beneath those eyes. "Do you still feel that fusion is just a stupid war tactic?"

"What do you think?" Jasper snapped. "That's literally what I am. They didn't want to waste three little defects so they try to experiment and create their own monster. That's all Homeworld uses it for."

"It is," Garnet agreed. "But that's not what it's meant to be for. That's why Ruby and Sapphire are together. Fusion isn't a war tactic, or at least, it was never meant to be. You're right, I don't have to be fused, but I want to be. Back in Homeworld Ruby and Sapphire realized that they always wanted to be with each other. But we felt a gap. There was still something missing."

She gazed down at the gems on each hand and gently, tenderly closed her fingers around the stones. "When we came to earth we realized what it was when we became Garnet. We were finally free to be what we wanted to be, and that was _together,_ forever."

Jasper shook her head. "I never got that. I never understood why you would want to be stuck together because I never knew what fusion could be. Back in the military I had fused before with gems to get a job done quickly but...I'd hate it. They'd hate it. No one would want to be more then necessary."

"That's because you haven't found the one that makes you whole. Fusion isn't for everyone, of course. Some gems are alright being on their own. Once in a while Ruby and Sapphire split up. Sometimes they fight, and sometimes..." A smile crossed her face and Jasper watched as the tall gem morphed into two separate lights, and separate gems.

"And sometimes..." Ruby grinned and grabbed Sapphire's face. "Sometimes we just like to look at each other." Sapphire giggled and pushed Ruby's hands away. "Not now..."

Jasper made a face. "I thought you told me that you were going to stay together forever."

"We are," Sapphire grinned, still trying to push away Ruby's mischievous little hands, and squeaking as one of them tweaked her backside. "But we thought it would help you if you got to see us."

"You know," Ruby drawled. " _Outside_ trying to kill each other in the battlefield." She put an arm around Ruby. "We're strong individually." Their hands curled around each other's, fingers entwining. "And we're even stronger together."

"You were never given a choice for fusion," Sapphire said, an air of melancholy to her voice. "But I don't think a day goes by where your gems aren't grateful for you."

Jasper's face softened, a small weight out of the many anvils crushing her spirit beginning to lift. "I don't know how to come to terms with all of this. It's too much."

"It'll take time." Ruby scooped up Sapphire and a white light enveloped them both as they formed into Garnet. "It will take a lot of time to be comfortable with who you are. I imagine you have a lot to think about now." Jasper nodded silently. "You'd probably feel more comfortable thinking about it outside of this cramped room. I'll give you a chance since Steven is. You and Peridot can leave this room tomorrow."

Jasper grunted, which Garnet assumed was meant to be some sort of thanks in her own language. She moved to leave when Jasper called her back.

"Oh yeah." She remembered her promise to Steven. "Uh...I came here on my own, by the way. I just wanted to see Peridot. The kid had nothing to do with this." To her surprise, Garnet gave an amused smile and pointed to her visor.

"You think I believe that? Future vision, remember?"

* * *

 _(A/N:Sorry it's been a while my lovelies. I got awfully sick and had to recuperate. It looks like Jasper and Peridot have a whole new world to learn about, but I don't think Jasper has come to terms with the truth yet...and I don't think this is the last you'll see of Red, Orange, and Yellow either ;) Thanks a bunch to all my amazing reviews. I've had some people even tell me they feel like they're reading a script from the show. Oh you have no idea how happy that made me feel! So thank you all and I hope you enjoy where this is headed next. Follow my tumblr, nevenger for art and such on Shattered Realities. I drew Red, Orange, and Yellow. That can be found in my art tag or cryssy-miu, my deviantart!_

 _Tootles!)_


	9. Chapter 9

Steven ran down the stairs when he caught a whiff of syrup and milk. "Ohhhh yes! Pancake fest!" he cheered as he hopped up onto the banister and slid down the slick railing. "Steven smells pancakes!"

Pearl was at the stove and she made a face at the overpowering scent wafting from the sizzling cakes. "Oh, the syrup is even more intense then the cakes themselves. Steven, how can you eat this stuff?"

The boy ran into the kitchen, and stars sprung to his eyes when he saw the unenthusiastic forms leaned against the counter. One Homeworld gem was turning dials on the stove to figure out what they were, one was checking out the fridge, and the largest one was biting at the pancake box.

"Jasper!" Pearl hissed. "You're getting powder all over the counters." She huffed and brushed at some of the flour on her arms. "What's in the _pan_ is what you're supposed to eat."

Garnet was reading the paper. "Don't be too hard on her Pearl. We can always use a back up garbage disposal." She looked over as Amethyst bit a plate. "In case the Amethyst gets broken."

"Oh man!" Steven ran over to the table, practically bouncing. "You're all out of your rooms! Yay, it's a mega together breakfast! This is SO awesome!"

"This is so...boring," Jasper drawled, her face wrinkled in disdain. She wanted to be out on the battle field, or at least mutilating something. "You all just sit around ingesting things?" She hoped they tasted better then the cardboard. From the corner of her eye she spotted Peridot curiously leaning in to the burners on the stove and tugged her back by her collar. "Whoa there, Peridork. Don't touch the unknown earth crap."

"We mostly cook these things for Steven," Pearl said as she served the large group the pancakes. She made a face as Amethyst smashed her face into the syrup and made a slurping sound. "And...Amethyst."

Steven shook a bottle of whipped cream and topped Peridot and Jasper's pancakes with it, sprinkling on some cut strawberries. "This is whipped cream and it was created by the milk god to make everything ten times more delicious."

Peridot looked over at Garnet. "You have a deity that supplies you with dairy products?" She lifted the paper higher over her eyes. Jasper shovelled an entire pancake into her mouth and chewed thoughtfully, white foam around her mouth.

"Not terrible..." Her tongue played at some of the cream in her mouth. "Strange textures. This white stuff feels like a cloud." Steven giggled. She smacked her lips together and gave a crooked smile. "It's good. Hey water princess, try it out."

Lapis's eyes were hard enough to cut glass and she daintily popped a piece of the cake into her mouth. The next one she dipped in syrup. It was like that for a while; the soft chewing of pancake and steely glares—and the occasional grabbing Peridot before she dismantled all of their appliances.

"Sooo...what are we all going to do today?" Steven broke the silence, grinning from gem to gem. They all looked at each other. Jasper had Peridot trapped in her lap. Garnet put down the paper.

"Actually, Pearl, Amethyst and I are going on a mission." Steven's eyes sparkled but she shot him down instantly. "Unfortunately, Steven, we can't allow you to accompany us on this one. I know you hate when we do this to you, but it's too dangerous."

"We're going on a hunt for a gem monster that we've been on the hunt for since before you were born!" Amethyst grinned. "The thing only rears its head up every hundred years. It's one of the big ones we haven't managed to catch yet."

Steven looked disappointed but Jasper immediately sprung up. "Wait, monsters?! Oh yeah!" She laughed and pumped her fists in the air. "Something to kill? Sign me up!"

"No." Garnet shook her head. "Not this time. Perhaps in the future you four can assist us. Besides, I'm sure Steven wants to show you around town."

Jasper's face fell into the ugliest scowl. "Great..." She slumped heavily into her arms as the gems rose and put their dishes away, starting to the warp pad.

"We're going to leave them with Steven?" Pearl whispered to Garnet, her eyes wide. Garnet nodded. She looked over at Lapis. Lapis's devotion to protect Steven was just as strong as their own. If the other two even thought of trying anything, it would be pointless. "Steven can handle it. Steven, we'll try to be back for dinner." They disappeared and Jasper kicked over the table.

"Uhhh..." Steven giggled nervously. "Hey, I bet we can put that violence to good use in some video games!" Jasper kept glaring at him. "You get to kill stuff!" The gem's face lit up like a kid on Christmas.

"Alright, I'm game for that." The three remaining gems followed the child up the stairs, nothing else to do. They watched, confused as Steven went over to a strange box-like contraption, and then pressed a button on an even smaller box-like contraption. The screen flickered. There were stars and a little pixelated space ship.

"A ship!" Peridot shouted. "Is this some sort of communication contraption? Are you trying to get in contact with another ship?"

"Are we gonna destroy it?" Jasper asked gleefully. Steven sighed.

"No guys—it's just a video game! It's meant for fun. It's, you know, a way you can beat things up without actually beating anything up." Jasper did not look impressed, but the graphics and tech was enough to interest a technology addicted gem like Peridot.

"Interesting. So it's a sort of simulator then?" She mashed at buttons. A smile lit up her face when she caused the floating meteors to explode as she struck them. "Success!" She gave a crazed laugh. "You minerals are no match for my advanced weaponry! What else can I do? What else can I destroy?" She kept firing at the asteroids and hissed as one of the computers booted up, giving her an extra opponent. "FOOLS! Do you think I fear you? Die, die die!"

Lapis was searching through Steven's set of games. She pulled up Animal Railroads. "I like the look of this one." There was an octopus character. "We saw these often as Malachite. Can we play this next?"

This was too much for Jasper and she gave an angry roar as she stormed down the steps, ripped off the hinges of the door and stalked outside. Peridot was far too intrigued with the video game to notice, ad Lapis of course didn't care. So it was Steven that ran outside.

"Hey Jasper, wait up! Umm, the stores are gonna be open soon and when they are I can take you!" Jasper didn't slow down, so neither did Steven. "Wanna swim? Trust me, it's a lot more fun when you...uh, aren't a prisoner at the bottom of the sea." She still didn't stop, and Steven ran up and grabbed her arm. "Or hey, we can-"

Jasper smacked him off, and the force of it really stung. He cradled his pinkened hand as he fell in the sand. "Just LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Steven was taken aback and he just stared at her. "I was just..."

"Well don't 'just!'" Jasper mocked. "Except to _just_ —leave me alone! Why don't you go play with your stupid human friends or go play that stupid game with Peridot and BUG OFF?!"

Steven rubbed his hand, lower lip trembling. He climbed to his feet and when he did, he was glaring. "Don't call my friends stupid! Why do you have to keep being so mean? Especially to me? All I've ever done is try to help you! I saved you!"

"I didn't ASK to be SAVED!" Jasper screamed. There was a hint of pain to her voice. "Why do you think I released the damn fusions and destroyed the panel?! I knew I was going to die, I wanted to die! That was the point! I just wanted to get Peridot out of there—and I spared you! You could have thanked me by giving me what I WANTED!"

"But why'd you come back then?!" Steven demanded. "You coulda stayed in your gem but you said you came back for Peridot 'cause she needs you! And she definitely does! She almost electrocuted herself trying to play with the toaster and see how it works!"

"If she's alive then that's all that matters to me!" Jasper snarled. She kept stalking away. This time Steven skidded in front of her, and the gem bristled like a furious tiger. "I've got a lot of violence built up in me, brat! Get out of my way before I TAKE IT OUT ON YOUR FACE!"

"But you can't just leave her!" Steven cried. "How would she feel if you did that? You're all she's got now! And—and your fusions! What about them? They're in your gem somewhere! How would they feel if you just give up?"

"Probably relieved because they finally don't have to SUFFER as me!" Jasper snarled and felt her eyes threaten to brim. She bared her teeth and fought the tears back, trying to get past the child—but he darted in front of her at every chance he could.

"It's okay to be upset Jasper!" Steven cried, still trying to reason with her. "I don't blame you! You have every reason to be! You found out they lied to you and now you're on a planet that's new and scary!"

"It's not scary!" Jasper snapped. "It's just pathetic!"

"But there are healthier ways to release your anger!" Steven told her. "And better then just giving up! There's nothing wrong with being sad, and nothing wrong with crying." Jasper's face screwed up with hate and disgust. "You can let yourself feel sadness!"

"I don't get sad," Jasper hissed. "I get ANGRY and destroy things! If you don't want it to be you then step aside! I've got nothing to lose if those gems go after me..."

"Why are you so afraid to cry?!" Steven demanded. "This isn't Homeworld! You're able to cry here without being judged!"

"I don't cry!" Jasper snarled. "Weaklings cry! Warriors do not cry!"

"I'm a warrior!" Steven stomped his foot. "And I cry!"

"You're no warrior," Jasper sneered. "You're a pathetic little pod of flesh that your mother was stupid to give herself up for." The child stared at her with wide eyes and stepped back as if someone had slapped him in the face.

"I..." Large tears brimmed and his mouth began to violently tremble. "I'm not..." The sobs took him and there was a brief flash of concern before she snarled and shoved the kid aside in the sand, beginning to storm off.

She could hear his wails as she stormed down the beach. She was feeling everything at once. Rage, rage overpowered it all, but she did feel it, hidden under all the self loathing...sadness. So much sadness. Frustration, fear—it all collided.

Jasper paced in the sand, flinging up dirt and rocks as she growled and raged and finally gave a roar of fury as she pounded several rocks into dust. Her back heaved and bristled like a wild animal, and suddenly all at once, voices began to echo through her head.

 _"How could you say such a thing?" Red hissed. "The child did not deserve that, he was simply trying to help!"_

 _Orange's sneering voice answered, "The brat keeps sticking his nose in where it doesn't belong. I'm glad we finally got to put him in his place!"_

 _"But how could we be so mean?" Yellow crooned sadly, a sniffle to her voice. "He's just a baby... Oh, we made him cry!"_

 _"Good."_

 _"Orange, I have had it with your attitude!" Red snapped. "I get it, you're frustrated. We all are! None of us like to be cooped up in here, and I'm tired of you taking it out on everyone that you can! Just because you can! And now we just made a poor, defenceless little boy cry! That's awful! I'm sick of the way you treat others, and the way you treat us!"_

 _"Well if you don't like it brat, then you can just beat it!"_

 _"You know I would if I could!" Red yelled._

Jasper held her head with a groan, the separate disembodied voices making her head spin. It pounded, everything hurt. She cried out in pain as it felt like something was stabbing her head violently with several needles. "Arrrghhh! It all hurts!"

Suddenly there was a white flash as three small forms tumbled to the ground, into the sand. Red winced and pushed herself up onto her knees with her one arm, staring around. Her crimson eyes went wide in shock. "We're...out."

Yellow reached around and felt the sand between her small fingers. She held Red's arm for leverage. "But how is it possible?"

"It's not supposed to be." Red pulled her up, face etched with fear. "This isn't something we should be rejoicing over. I don't imagine we'll last too long out here." She looked over at Orange, who up until this point, had been silent. "Orange, let's all try to fuse."

"No."

Red and Yellow just stared. "What?" Red asked. "Orange, don't you realize that we'll all die out here? Our gems aren't functional enough to be on our own, that's why we were made into Jasper. We need to get her back! If we don't we won't survive."

Finally Orange turned to them. Her golden eyes glinted with hate and fury. "Good." Red and Yellow just stared. "Then I'll finally be free of you all! ALL of you! Your stupid kernels of wisdom-" She shoved a finger towards Yellow. "Your whines and bawling, and the shameless display we're forced to look at every day!"

The only arm that Red had clutched Yellow close, crimson eyes just staring and trying to see if she heard right. "Orange, we...we've been together for thousands of years! We're all a part of each other—how-how can you not CARE about us? About Jasper?"

"I was never with any of you idiots by choice!" Orange yelled. "All I ever wanted was to just—get away! And now I finally can!"

"But we're going to die!" Red cried, despaired. "If we die there will be nothing left of us to show to the world! It will be like we never existed! You'd do that to us, and Jasper?"

Orange didn't answer. She was too busy running away, small feet pounding up the sand to the only kind of freedom they had. And she didn't care how short lived it was, it was something she was going to revel in for as long as she could.

"Orange, come back!" Red scooped up Yellow, following as fast as she could. Her steps were slowed as more and more pressure was put on their gems, and they both began to darken a slight black. Red's dress made it nearly impossible to run, but she knew they had to get to Steven.

"Red, my chest is hurting," Yellow mumbled, transparent eyes seeming to become dimmer and dimmer. Red clutched her closer with a whimper. "Quartz!" she shouted.

Steven was still at the spot Jasper had left him, sobbing into his knees. He looked up when he heard a voice he didn't recognize, and his tearful eyes widened to the sizes of dinner plates. "Wh—what?" He scrambled up. "Are you gems?!" Then...he took a closer look. "Are you... _Jasper?"_

Red gave a smile and a curtsy. "It's nice to meet you Quartz boy. I'm Red and this is Yellow. We don't have much time for pleasantries though-"

"Oh man!" Steven's eyes sparkled. "I can't believe I'm meeting Jasper's fusion! This is so cool! You...you're so nice." He rose an eyebrow. "Are you really a part of Jasper? How can that be? She's, uh, not so nice."

"Yes I know," Red said. She stroked the hair on Yellow's head. "Orange is the most dominant part of Jasper. Her feelings, her loathing...it's too intense that it overpowers us most times. It's all Jasper can feel. Orange hates the situation so much, but Jasper never knew that she was a fusion. So all of her anger was always misguided, and misdirected. All she had was pent up rage because of Orange."

"We were upset too," Yellow said quietly. "No one likes to be imprisoned, but we learned to accept it. Orange never did." Suddenly, Red buckled and she fell to the ground in pain.

"What's going on?!" Steven cried. He tried to help the injured gems up but they were so weak they could hardly even stand.

"We're...defected gems," Red gasped softly. "We aren't functional enough to exist on our own. That's why we were made into...Jasper. We can't exist in the physical world like you...c-can..." The alarming tinge of black on their gems was growing darker.

"W-well I can help that!" Steven cried. "I have my mom's healing powers! I can make your gems work!"

Red shook her head. "No Quartz child... It isn't the matter of healing our gems. We aren't cracked. We aren't injured. We were harvested this way. We...we were harvested deformed. You can heal cracked gems...y...yes, because all of the pieces...are there! You can't repair pieces that are missing."

Yellow was face down in the sand, but her soft voice spoke. "Just like...you can't complete a jigsaw puzzle if you're missing the last...piece."

Steven's eyes filled with tears again. "Well I gotta do something! I can't just—let you guys die! I can't let Jasper die! What do I do? How can I help?!"

"We need Orange..." Red said meekly, her voice fading. "We need to become Jasper. If we don't...we won't survive and neither will she."

"Orange, got it. So, we gotta find the mini Jasper still running around. She can't be far, especially if you guys are this sickly." He looked them over, biting his lip. "I need a way to carry you. J...just stay put, okay?! I'll get some help!"

Steven bolted towards the temple and through the destroyed doorway. "Lapis, Peridot! Come quick!"

Peridot waved her hand dismissively. "Not right now, Quartz child! I'm trying to beat the Lapis Lazuli's high score!"

"Jasper is in trouble!" That was all that needed to be said for Peridot to hurl the controller to the floor and bolt down the stairs with a horrified shriek. Lapis however was far more hesitant and stood by the bed, eyes steely.

"Please Lapis..." Tears filled Steven's eyes. "I really need your help." Her eyes softened and after a moment of internal conflict her wings spread, fluttering down next to the child. He gave her a quick hug and pulled her out the door.

"Where is she?!" Peridot was looking everywhere. "Where's Jasper?!" She ignored the pile of sprawled colors in the corner of her vision, until Steven pointed to it.

"That's what's Jasper right now."

Peridot's eyes went wide with terror and she staggered, stunned. "Is that...Red and Yellow?" She ran to them. Long red hair...Jasper's features. Pale yellow skin, a white head of hair. "Wh...where is the other one? Where is Orange?!"

"That's what we need to do!" Steven said, trying to lift the sickly gems. "We have to find her! If we don't then they're all gonna die and we'll never see Jasper again! I—I need help looking and carrying them!"

Lapis and Peridot carefully picked up a gem each. Red was nearly limp in Lapis's arms and Yellow snuggled slightly into Peridot. "W-we don't have much time," Peridot whispered, feeling tears fill her eyes. "Their gems are nearly black."

"We have to start looking," Steven agreed. "And we gotta find her fast." He broke into a run across the sand while Lapis dove into the water to search. "No one came in the temple, right? Did you see her?"

"No," Peridot responded, shaking her head. "We would have heard." She looked down at the blind gem in her arms and tried not to let a tear fall.

"Don't worry," Yellow said softly. "When she talks about how annoying your nerdyness is she actually likes it." Peridot's face went a dark hue of green.

Peridot's face went an even darker green until the jade skin was almost like moss. "Sh—she what? I don't understand."

"And when she yells at you when you cry it's really because she can't stand to see you cry."

Peridot said nothing but she clutched the yellow gem closer and caught up with Steven as he made it to a small cave near the rocky cliffs. Among the darkness, they saw a bright tinge of orange in the dirt, motionless.

"Orange!" Steven shouted. He ran up to the small gem, trying to pick her up. She swatted him away angrily.

"Bug off kid! I thought Jasper made that clear to you...s...she doesn't want...your help!" She raised her voice. "I DON'T...WANT YOUR HELP! Go...away!" The gem shard on her face blackened more. There was hardly a tinge of orange left to the stone.

"Orange please!" Steven pleaded. "You're gonna die if you don't come with us! You'll die...in this cave! I don't want you to die! Neither does Peridot! Or Red!"

"Or me," Yellow whimpered. Peridot set her gently on the ground, but the dying creature fell to her hands and knees.

"Steven!" Lapis came to the entrance, holding Red tightly in her arms. "Did you find her?" She gasped and looked down at the fading gems. Red's flickering eyes filled with tears. "Orange...Yellow..."

"She's right here, but...but she won't fuse." Steven sniffled. "Orange...if you don't fuse then...Jasper is gonna die."

Her eyes were tired, having trouble staying open...but they still narrowed in hate. "I want Jasper to die."

Suddenly it became even colder in the cave as tension hung over them all like a cloud. It was deathly silent as Steven's feet shuffled in the sand. He stood over the small gem and his eyes sharpened in rage. A furious scowl rippled his face as he almost snarled. "DON'T YOU DARE SAY THAT ABOUT HER!"

It was as if a switch went off in the dying gem's head. Orange's golden eyes suddenly snapped wide open in fear. The type that Steven had never seen in Jasper's eyes. Her eyes filled with tears and she suddenly cowered against the ground, holding her arms above her head as coverage. "N-no!" She started hyperventilating and Steven stepped back. "No! Don't hurt me! Y-Yellow Diamond, please don't—don't HURT ME!"

Steven gaped. "What?!" He felt a huge wave of guilt for having screamed at the gem, and when he tried to get closer to her, she desperately tried to drag herself away. "W-wait! Orange, I...I'm not gonna hurt you." Was this what was wrong with Orange? Psychological trauma far deeper then eyes could even see? "I promise I won't hurt you." He bent down next to her and put a hand on her arm. "I'm sorry I yelled. I just...I'm really scared." He sniffled. "I'm scared I'm gonna lose her and...I've hardly even gotten a chance to know her."

Orange stopped shivering against the ground and looked up at him, sniffling. "You don't want to know us. We're a walking monster. We're a living example of how awful our planet can be." She sobbed. "You don't want to know _me..."_

"That's not true Orange," Red whispered. "We've been with you...for thousands of years. Even though we all resent our predicament...not a day passes that we resent you. Or her."

"I know it's really terrible what you've been through." Steven sniffled. "I can't imagine it. You lived your whole life as a lie, trapped in your own mind where no one could even hear you scream. And I know that's why you're so angry. And why Jasper is so angry... You never had anyone but Peridot." He looked over to the trembling green gem. "It was just you and her against all those horrors, but...you guys were never really alone. You all had each other."

They all looked at each other and he smiled. "You had all three of you, together. And you had Peridot! And now that you're here, you can have even more friends! The crystal gems are all a family." He reached out his hand to Orange, a gentle smile on his face. "Won't you be a part of it...?"

Orange didn't take it. She buried her face in her hands. "You all must hate me." Somehow, with their last reserve of strength the two dying gems crawled over to Orange. They each took a hand.

"We don't hate you," Red said softly as Yellow nuzzled up next to Orange. "We could never hate you... We know you're angry. We understand, and we know you're sad." She squeezed Orange's hand. "But stop pushing us away. We're all one...we should all deal with these feelings...together."

"Besides..." Yellow said quietly. "How are we gonna kick Homeworld's butt if Jasper doesn't exist anymore? Let's be a real fusion. Let's be...Jasper."

Orange didn't say anything, but after a moment, she pulled the two close. Red wrapped her only arm around Orange and Yellow pulled them all close. They started to glow, and the three gems began to form together as one.

Jasper landed on the ground, the stone on her face as strong and together as always.

Peridot and Steven's face broke into large grins and even Lapis gave a small smile. Jasper didn't say anything until Peridot came and stood next to her. She was as smug as a cat.

"So I was told that you apparently like my...'nerdiness?'"

 _"Shut up."_

* * *

Steven gave Jasper space the rest of the day, and so did Peridot and Lapis. They knew the gem needed it. She was finally starting to reach the stage of acceptance. It wasn't a process that could be rushed. She wasn't blindly angry anymore and she didn't even pace. She did a lot of sitting by herself though and staring up at the sky and the ocean beyond. Steven spent the day with Peridot and Lapis, showing them all of his video games. The tech was enough to amuse Peridot for several hours, and Steven managed to keep any more catastrophes from happening until the gems got home.

Steven sat on the couch, eating some soup that Pearl had prepared for him (and Amethyst), while he darted his eyes over to the porch. Jasper was just standing there, in the dark. The black sky and silver moon cast on her just made her look even more lonely. Maybe she'd like some company...

"Hey..." Steven said as he creaked open the door. "Garnet fixed the door. Um, I told her it was a mutant seagull. I don't think she believed me."

Jasper didn't turn but she let out a small snort. "Future vision, brat...and that story is just ridiculous."

He came up beside her. "...Are you okay?"

"I don't know," she mumbled. "I guess... better then I was. I feel...like things are a little more clear. I guess I'm...just trying to look at things in a new perspective. It's hard when you've had just one mindset your entire life."

Steven nodded, his head hanging slightly. "I guess...I didn't get that. I thought I was helping, but...I didn't realize how bad you were hurting. And this wasn't something I could ever understand. I'm sorry...I acted like I did. What you said earlier...you were right." His mouth trembled. He was trying valiantly not to cry and failing miserably, as the tears leaked down the sides of his face. "My Mom was the greatest warrior that was ever known. She was so strong, she was so perfect...and I'm just this weak pod of flesh. I can't even do half of the things that are expected of me."

Jasper looked down at the child silently and didn't say a word.

"I'm...worthless." The moment those words left his lips, the world blurred upwards as he was suddenly yanked so violently that his head almost snapped back as his teeth rattled. And he found himself face to face with Jasper. Her golden eyes bored into his soul, so intense that Steven instantly shut his mouth.

"Don't ever..." Jasper began, in a tone very quiet. "...Say that about yourself." Steven just stared at her. "There's a lot of things you are, Quartz kid... I've probably only seen half of them, but worthless is not one of them."

"But..." His voice was meek. "But you said earlier-"

"Forget what I said earlier," Jasper snapped. "I was angry and it wasn't aimed at you. It shouldn't have been. I..." She grunted and her face screwed up in disgust, the words clearly painful to say. "I'm...sorry."

He stared at her, eyes as wide as an owl's. Jasper grunted and dropped him. "Don't lean too far into it." A large smile broke out over Steven's face and he clambered to try and climb into the railing. After watching him struggle for a moment Jasper grabbed him by the pants and plopped him beside her.

"I don't know how you do it." Steven looked at her, and she looked back down at him, face scrutinizing his features. "I don't know how you can be...this. You're so annoyingly cheerful, it's sickening. You just want to be anyone's friend. I tried to kill you!"

Steven shrugged. "Yeah that's okay, the gems accidentally almost kill me all the time. Besides, you're not anymore!" The smile remained on his face, blissful as always. And Jasper just stared at him.

"I think I know why I've hated you." Steven looked stricken and hurt. Jasper's eyes narrowed bitterly. "I used to be your age, but I didn't get a chance to have the innocence that you do. I saw too much, even the first day of my harvest. So much pain, so much devastation. So much...sadness, and loss. You never saw any of that. I hate you because I envy you."

Steven smiled and lowered his head. There was pain in his eyes, of a boy that had seen too much to retain as much innocence as she thought. "You're wrong. I-I...might not have been in war yet, but I've still seen a lot. I've seen a lot of sadness and loss. I...see it every day actually."

Jasper leaned her cheek into her hand, surprisingly attentive.

"Garnet goes off to fight on her own because that way she doesn't have to show the pain. I think that's why she wears her visor sometimes, so no one can see her eyes. Amethyst stays in her room, in a pile of garbage. And she just...eats and sleeps 'cause I think it's the only thing that makes the pain feel a little better. Dad says it helps to fill a hole in her heart. And I bet that hole just got bigger when my mom left." Jasper kept watching him, her expression was less intense. It was...almost gentle.

"Pearl acts like she's okay, but I hear her talking to my mom sometimes through her room. And outside. She uses a hologram to do it. She thinks no one knows, but...we all do. And sometimes when I'm at my Dad's I hear him singing the songs he made for her when I'm supposed to be sleeping. I know they all love me, but they blame me too. They take care of me, but they'll never stop thinking of the person that was supposed to have this gem. ...And doesn't because I'm here."

Jasper was at a loss, and just stared at the child with tears in his eyes and a smile on his face.

Steven wiped his eyes, not realizing they had filled with tears. "I guess I'm always smiling 'cause the gems need me to be happy. They're really broken, and someone has to be strong for them."

Jasper's eyebrows creased in concern and she frowned. "But you're just...a kid. That shouldn't be expected of you. You can't just carry other people's happiness, brat. That's too much on you. You're allowed to be...weak."

Steven looked at her. "I thought you said that weak was useless and stupid."

"It is, but...I think you've gone through enough to be allowed it."

Steven smiled and inched closer. "You have too." He hesitantly rest his head against her side, and after a moment of consideration, Jasper let him.

* * *

 _(A/N: Not much to say here. It's four in the morning and I am tired. I love my baby jaspers so much that I just had to show them again! Personally I feel that the gems would never leave Steven alone with just Peridot and Jasper yet but they know the lengths that Lapis is willing to go for Steven...and they also know their little boy can handle it. ;) I'm aware there's been a horrific lack of city people and especially CONNIE! But that will be remedied soon. As always, thanks for the love!)_


	10. Chapter 10

"Peridot!" Steven yelped as he realized the little silver things scattered around the floor were nuts, bolts, and screws and shards of metal that all belonged to his tv. "What are you doing?!"

The green gem looked over at the horror on his face, unphased. "I'm trying to decipher your technology. It's quite different from Homeworld's. So...primitive."

"So you know how to put it back together?!"

"Unlikely. I'm more adept to our advanced technology, not this neandrathal machine."

Steven clawed at his face in despair with a wail. "Peridoooot! That was my tv you just destroyed! You can't take apart everything in the house! We won't have a house left if you do that!"

"JASPER!" came an earsplitting shriek from the living room below, and it wasn't hard to tell that the hysterical pitch was Pearl's. If the larger gem was anywhere near as destructive as Peridot seemed to be (and Steven knew that she was), then he was almost afraid to go downstairs.

Jasper was there, sprawled over the couch and using a fork to pick something white out of her teeth. At a closer look Steven realized it was cotton and that there was a very large portion of the couch missing. Jasper was just laying there looking bored as Pearl squawked at her.

"You ate the couch!"

"What's the big deal? I thought we were able to eat things in this dump if we wanted to."

"NOT THE COUCH!"

Amethyst wandered over to where the gaping hole was in the arm, and picked up the spare cotton, popping it into her mouth. "Sweet. It's like more intense cotton candy."

Pearl tore at her hair and started babbling as she paced back and forth, mumbling incoherently as she tore at Garnet's shirt. "Garnet, I can't do this!" She gave a manic giggle. "I can't keep up with the messes they make! This brute is another Amethyst! I can't take two of them! I CAN HARDLY TAKE ONE!" She wailed, large tears rolling as she shoved a finger towards Peridot. "I had to stop THAT one from trying to turn the microwave into a death ray this morning and she BIT me!"

All eyes roved to Peridot, who narrowed her eyes threateningly like a cat, silent.

"Wellll..." Steven looked from a crying Pearl to the lounging, chair-munching Jasper and back up to Peridot, who had moved onto taking apart his gamecube. "What if I get them out of the house for a little while? Connie and I are supposed to spend the day together, so what if I bring them?" He smiled. "I'm sure she'd like to meet them! And I can show them around town, and take them to the Big Donut and to meet all of my friends!"

Garnet nodded, holding a hysterical Pearl. "That might be a good idea. Make sure you keep an eye on them." She pet Pearl's hair as Amethyst crawled on all fours like a dog and sucked up the rest of the cotton on the floor.

Steven fluttered happily over to the temple doors and knocked on the one with a blue gem on the door. "Hey Lapis! Laaaaapis!" He kept knocking. "Do you wanna go to town? We can get some food and play video games, and you can see Connie again!"

There was a long pause, and then a resenting voice growled. "Are THEY going to be there?" Steven's face fell. "Yeah, they are, but you can't avoid them forever. Come on Lapis...please...? For me?" He heard a muffled groan and smirked triumphantly. The "do it for me" technique did them in all the time. And sure enough, the door glowed as an unenthusiastic gem appeared at the doorway.

"You know it'll be a good idea to get out of the room now and then," Steven said, trying to encourage her. "We can go to the arcade and eat tasty food. And maybe go shopping!" She didn't look intrigued, a sceptical look on her face.

"I...I suppose I'll go." She smiled a little. "It might be fun."

"Great!" Steven snatched a nutrition bar to go and pushed open the front door. "Hey, Connie!" he shouted over the deck as he saw his best friend run up the beach to him. She waved excitedly and her hand fell limp when she saw the large towering form of Jasper behind her friend.

"What's going on?" The last time she was here there was already a new addition. Now it looked like the wayward gem family had grown two new unfriendly additions. The orange one looked like she wanted to tear her apart.

"Oh, heh, a lot has happened since we saw each other last," Steven laughed awkwardly. "Connie, meet Peridot and Jasper! They're the other gems that tried to kidnap me!" Connie's mouth widened more in horror. "They're staying with us now, and we're gonna show them around town today!" He paused. "That' okay...right?"

The dark skinned girl looked quite blind sided, eyes scrolling from one ex-enemy to the next. As always, she just had to look into Steven's smiling face to give in. "Yeah, sure. Mom gave me a little extra allowance for cleaning the garage," she perked happily.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me, I gotta stop off at my Dad's!" Steven exclaimed. "He's gonna give me some money too!" He pat his tummy. "Mmmm, tum-tum, get ready for some delicious unhealthy fried food!"

Jasper and Peridot gazed outwards to the rows of buildings and the humans walking about, living their dismal, insignificant lives. "There's more stuff to ingest out there?" Peridot asked. Steven beamed, eyes sparkling.

"Oh man you guys! You don't even know _half_ of it! There's gonna be so much food to try! Like donuts and pizza and frybits! You're gonna be so full you'll be rolling home on your stomachs!"

"Is that possible?" Peridot asked, tilting her head. "If we ingest enough of your human sustenance does it change our forms?"

"I think it's just supposed to be a human expression, dork..."

They followed Steven as he skipped and chattered about with Connie, eyes taking in their surroundings. Neither gem could understand the appeal of this miserable planet and small town. What did the Crystal Gems find worthwhile on this rock? What drove Rose to be so passionate about this place that she turned on her own kind? If anything watching the humans as they lived just made things more hard to understand. Why bother spending years building a life if you only had a few to finally live it?

"Hey Dad!" They arrived at a small, box-like machine on wheels. Was it a small spaceship? "Your favorite son is here to say hello!"

Greg popped out from behind the van, covered in suds and smiling brightly at the sight of his boy. "Are you?" he teased as he scooped up his son and noogied him. "Or are you just here to suck away my money?"

"Dad!" Steven gasped. "I'd never do that! You're my Dad, not an ATM machine!" He paused and looked up, cheeky and curious. "...Do you have the money?" That earned him double the noogies, and his father finally released him, laughing.

"Yeah, I've got it." He passed his son a bill and Steven shoved it into his pockets. Then his eyes trailed up to the towering, certainly new residents hanging around his son. "Uhhh..." He knew immediately that they were gems, obviously.

"This is Jasper and Peridot!" Steven chirped. " And you know Lapis. They're staying with us now! They're the other gems that were in the ship that night! You know, with the ones that were trying to kill us!"

Greg fell deathly pale and silent and gripped the side of the van. Jasper raised an eyebrow. "Kid, you might want to stop introducing us that way..." She looked at Greg. "Uh... About Homeworld and our involvement..." Greg held up a hand.

"No need, I get it. My son being almost killed by you guys and in turn you become a part of our weird family is something I'm strangely used to." He shook his head. "This shouldn't be so normal for me."

"I was wondering if I could have a little extra money," Steven said, rocking back and forth on his feet nervously. "It's the first time I'm gonna show the gems around town! And I want them to experience everything and take them everywhere!"

Greg's face fell. "Everywhere? Oh geez, kiddo...I don't know..." He looked down at the starry eyes of his sweet, owl eyed boy. "Ah...I guess I can just extend my hours a bit and do some extra work." He passed his son another few bills. "Can't say no to that sweet face. Hey, we still on for tomorrow's barbecue?"

"You bet!" Steven grinned more. "I'll pick up some more stuff for it too!"

As they walked along the street, Steven came up with an idea. "You know, we need a special name for today," he said. "'Cause it's like Jasper Lapis and Peridot's first time out in the town!"

"I fail to see how that needs a special name," Peridot said simply, so far uninterested with their trip. "I'd rather be back in your room playing your simulator games."

"Well we can't do that because you destroyed my tv," Steven reminded her bitterly. "And I think we should think up a name for it so it'll be something that we won't ever forget!"

"How about 'Jasper, Lapis and Peridot's Day Of Torture?'" Jasper suggested dully. "What about 'Town Fun Day?'" Connie suggested.

"I GOT IT! 'Jasper and Lapis and Peridot's Day Of Fun!' And it starts...here!" He gestured to a small store in front of them. In the window they could see racks of clothing; dresses, pants, shirts, skirts. The Homeworld gems had seen all these types of clothing back on their planet, but they were never on racks. Gems never needed to buy their clothing.

"What kind of sick humor is this?" Peridot shrieked as she looked at a clothed mannequin. "Why does this human have no head?!" Connie and Steven both laughed.

"It's just a mannequin, Peridot!" Steven giggled. "It's to display the clothes that people can wear so it makes them want to buy it! I bet a lot of this stuff would look really cool on you guys." Jasper and Peridot just stood there confused, but Lapis curiously touched the fabric to a pretty, orange sun dress.

"My mom wants me to get a pair of jeans," Connie said, combing through her money. "I guess I have to spend some of my arcade money on it..."

Jasper made a face at a frilly pink dress. "Look kid, this is completely unnecessary," she growled. "We're gems. We don't need to buy extra clothes. All we have to do is regenerate with what we want to wear! If I wanted to wear one of these ugly frufru tops, I can do it myself!"

Steven pouted. "You're ruining the spirit of today! You gotta put gem thinking aside to really enjoy everything! Look, Lapis is getting into it!" The blue gem held up the orange sun dress and pressed it against her body, testing its size. "There's all sorts of stuff here! I bet there's at least something to your liking..."

None of the fabrics here was anything that either Peridot or Jasper would bother wearing. There wasn't much time for fashion on Homeworld anyway, and it would become so stained with dirt and blood there was no point to dressing up 'nice' at all.

"Alright, I've found one," Peridot said, snatching the first thing on one of the racks. Jasper snatched up a folded t-shirt, not even bothering to look it over. "Me too."

"Great, there's a change room over there!" Steven pointed to a few curtained stalls—one where Connie was already behind with a small arm load of clothes. "And there's a sales lady if you need any help!" Jasper and Peridot trudged to the stalls and Jasper found herself looking over one of the shirts she grabbed.

"One hot...stud muffin?" It had a picture of a smiling muffin on it, with stupid blushing cheeks. "I don't even know what that means." She yanked the yellow shirt over her head, careful not to rip it. "This thing is so weird. . How you doing in there, Peridot?"

"I think I have this strange garment...upside down."

The curtain pulled open and out twirled Lapis. The sundress fell to her knees and was strapless, flowers and patterns around the breast area. The airy fabric lifted into the air like a kite. She grinned.

"Wow Lapis! That looks so pretty on you!" Steven exclaimed, admiring the gem and all of her feminine sunny glory. "You've gotta buy it!" She fluffed the dress, proudly.

"I think I might."

Jasper was next to come out, expression deadpan and flat as she glared down at the tight and stretched t-shirt over her form. "Okay, I'm in new clothes. They're ugly as hell. Can we go now?" Steven and Lapis tittered. The curtain beside Jasper shifted.

"I think I have this garment on right," Peridot said quietly, evidently nervous about showing herself. She still found this entire thing to be ridiculous. "Dresses have never had any use with me. I trip over them!" She clutched the curtain close. "I will not come out!"

"Come on, Peridork," Jasper snapped. "We all had to subject ourselves to humiliation! Now it's your turn!" There was a growl from behind the curtain, and finally Peridot pulled back the drapes. Jasper didn't expect her smug little smirk to fall so fast into one of total awe as she stared at her comrade.

The blue dress had small lacy straps and around the torso was tied with a sequin ribbon. The shy little flush on the dork's face somehow made her entire appearance even more endearing.

"Jasper, you're blushing."

"What?!" Jasper tore at her face as if Steven suggested a poisonous bug was crawling on it, glaring at the boy. "I don't _blush!_ " she snapped. "It must be the lighting in this stupid place!" Her scowl grew when Steven's grin widened. "Don't look at me like that!"

"So how do I look?" Peridot attempted to twirl as Lapis had, but she just wound up awkwardly and slowly waddling back and forth as she turned around in a circle, pulling at the fabric. "It's so...light. I feel as if I could float away." She looked at Jasper for her opinion, and the large gem found that, for the first time, she could find nothing witty and mean to say.

"Uh...it looks good," she said, averting her eyes towards one of the clothing racks. "Uh, I'm gonna try another shirt." She pretended to sort through several t-shirts so no one would try to talk to her.

"Steven, can you hand me one of the bows I saw from up front?" Connie asked from behind her curtain. "I think a green one would look pretty with this blouse. Mom wants me to buy some nice clothes for my violin recital. You are coming to that, right?"

"Of course!" Steven piped happily, rummaging through the bow bin and pulling out a mint colored bow. He tossed it into the stall. "Are you gonna show me how you look?" Connie didn't reply right away.

"...Promise you won't laugh?"

Steven chuckled. "Connie, I'd never laugh at you! I'm sure you look awesome!" He waited, peeking toward the curtain. She finally poked her head out, and the first thing Steven saw was the turquoise bow and her timid eyes behind her glasses. "Come on, we're all waiting!"

She stepped out of the stall, peering through the cracks of her fingers and slowly lowering her hands. The blouse was ruffled and white with a green cotton skirt that fell to her ankles. She played with her bow, straightening it in her brown curls. "How do I look?"

Steven stared, eyes wide and shocked. His face bloomed into a bright flush and he was tongue tied immediately. "Uh..." Jasper walked over with an arm load of clothes and took one look at Steven's beet red face and grinned. "Oh now who's the one with the red face?" she teased. Steven responded by throwing a t-shirt onto her head.

* * *

"Clothes shopping took longer then I thought it would," Steven said, checking off their list of fun things to do.

"That's because Nerd Girl over here got obsessed with your weird visors." Jasper looked over to where Peridot was sorting through a bag of sunglasses and trying on large star shaped ones with a giggle. "What's next on your 'Day Of Torture'?"

"'Day Of Fun'," Steven corrected curtly. "And next we have...ou, pizza!" He and Connie both grinned but the gems just looked confused.

"What's pizza?" Lapis wondered.

"Triangle shaped bites of deliciousness," Steven sighed happily. "Trust me guys, this is food that's gonna just melt your tongue off it's so good." Peridot's eyes widened immediately.

"I do not want to ingest anything that's going to melt off a part of my mouth! What is in this pizza? Corrosive acid?!"

"It's an expression, Peridot!" Steven laughed. "Like Jasper's shirt." He pointed to the happy muffin on the woman's top. "She's a stud muffin." He looked at the large gem's questioning glare. "That means you're good looking."

"Weird terms, this planet has... Can't you just say I'm good looking?" Jasper looked over to her smaller companion and gave the startled green gem a teasing squeeze. "Eh? Would you say that, Genius?" Peridot pursed her lips and looked away.

"We're here! Pizza-mia!" Steven giggled, trying to adapt an Italian accent. "That's not its name...and I can't do an Italian accent." Connie laughed. "I bet you'll really like it, Peridot! It's square shaped like your head." Jasper started laughing and Peridot scowled. "We'll get it to go 'cause there's still a lot of stuff I've got planned for today! Our Day Of Fun isn't nearly over yet!" He heard three quiet groans behind him but he ignored them. "Kofi!"

A small human with a strange hairdo greeted them behind the counter. "Ah, Steven! It's great to see you! You brought some friends I see! Table for five?"

"Nope, not a table!" Steven said, shaking his head. "We're getting it to go 'cause we still got a lot of fun stuff planned!"

"Ah, the cannonball tournament?" Kofi asked as he took down their order. "It's starting in a few minutes. Kiki is going to it with her friends. I assume you and your friends will be participating too?"

"Cannonball?" Connie gasped. She grinned at Steven, their minds clearly reeling. "Into the water? That sounds awesome!"

"Canonballs?" The gems exchanged looks. "Like actual canons?" Jasper asked. She grinned. "We gonna shoot someone?!"

"Cannonballs!" Steven cheered. "Even better then everything I had planned!" He turned to his friends. "Cannonballs are a type of dive we do into the water here! And it's really fun and you get to make a huge splash!"

"Water?!" Jasper balked as if Steven had suggested they jump into a pile of acid. "No! No way! Not after the crap Little Lazuli put me through! I'm never going back in there again!"

"But you're not gonna be imprisoned this time!" Steven protested. "No one is gonna try and keep you down there! Everyone is gonna be too busy having fun! Besides, this planet is like half water so you gotta get used to it at some point."

Jasper growled and crossed her arms. Lapis smirked. "Are you scared, Jasper?" she taunted. The orange gem turned her snarl onto her. "Do you fear I'll imprison you again?"

"The brat would never let you," she hissed. "I'm not afraid of anything, you water witch. You know what? Fine, bring on this stupid challenge!" Kofi placed their pizza on the counter and she angrily ripped into it, munching noisily on the cheese. "I'll beat all of you puny humans out of the park!"

Kofi stared fearfully at the aggressive gem and looked down at Steven. "Jenny will be coming out shortly. She'll be happy to see you both!"

"What's that I hear?" came a voice from behind the swinging kitchen doors. "Is our man Steven gonna be in the competition?" Dressed in a bikini, she walked past the counter. Kofi hissed.

"JENNY!" he shrieked. "You can't be parading yourself around the restaurant like that! I told you to wait until after your shift to change!" The teenager waved her father off, as usual.

"So you think you've got what it takes to beat my cannonballs, little brother?" she teased the kid, flicking his nose. "Well I've been practicing my technique for weeks now!"

Steven puffed out his cheeks. "Well you're out of luck because all of us have never practiced, so I bet you feel threatened now!" Jasper face palmed and Connie giggled.

"That's a lot of big talk." Jenny smirked. "Let's see how great you are at the actual competition. Bet you and your friends can't race me!" She took off out of the pizza restaurant as Connie and Steven followed close, laughing. Not sure what else to do, the three Homeworld gems followed.

There was already a large gathering around a small part of the ocean with buoys set up for restrictions. Spectators stood by and so did the contestants, all in their bathing suits and excited as could be.

"Steven!" Sadie waved him over from where she had an outdoor set up of donuts from the store and was handing them out to people. "Hey! Are you and Connie competing?"

"Donuts!" Steven squealed as he scurried eagerly over. Sadie gave them both two sprinkled ones and then smiled timidly at the three new additions. "Can I interest you three in some donut fries? We're trying a new glaze, cinnamon apple." She offered them all a small box.

"This is so awesome!" Steven chattered excitedly as he pulled out his list and crossed out donuts as one of the things to do. "Look, there's even fry bits! It's all mashed together because of the contest, so we're gonna get to do everything on my list after all!"

"Well I hope one of the things on your list isn't winning the contest," Lars sneered. "Because I've got this competition wrapped around my finger." Sadie rolled her eyes.

"You practiced in your little outdoor pool and you look like a flailing sausage when you jump. Besides, what do you expect to do with the prize if you win? You already work—somewhat, at the donut shop."

Steven's eyes sparkled. "The prize has something to do with donuts?!"

"A year's supply actually."

The child made squeaking little sounds in his throat and his eyes watered with joy as he turned to an amused Connie, barely whispering, "Free donuts..."

"Those are these weird little round things?" Jasper asked as she slipped one onto her finger and took a bite out of it. There was definitely a contrast to the cheesey richness of the pizza. Peridot sandwiched a donut between two slices and ate it whole, curious.

"Not bad, sweet. I wouldn't mind a year's supply of this," she said, Jasper and Lapis agreeing. "Useless for us, yet delicious."

"You're gonna have to beat us to get it!" Jenny grinned, already in the water with Buck and Sour Cream. "We're the Dream Team, Olympic Steam! And we've been training for this our whole lives!"

Buck adjusted his shades. "Actually Jenny, you only established this team the other week."

"Bro, don't ruin my dramatic flair!"

"Contestants!" Dewey's voice rang out through his mega phone. "Line up in the order of teams you're in! It's time to begin! Who's gonna win it, the year supply of donuts? Can that come with a year's worth of dental insurance?" he laughed. No one else laughed with him. "Eh...alright. First we have the Dream Team!" The small group of spectators watched as the three teenagers positioned themselves on the edge of the diving dock.

"So how does this work?" Jasper frowned, watching the teens. She couldn't even comprehend why anyone would want to voluntarily jump into that pit of blue death.

"It goes by the biggest splash, farthest water range, and highest water range," Steven said, writing their names down in the contestant boxes.

"So it's based purely on measurements then?" Peridot smiled. "I like that idea. Jasper, your size is immaculate. I can't imagine any one better suited for this contest then you." Jasper smirked as she watched the three teens splash into the ocean. "I know, right? In the bag." She sneered down at Steven and Connie. "What do you think you two are going to do? You're both so light I could hold you in my pinky."

"That's not fair 'cause you have gem strength," Steven reminded her with a pout. "And who says Connie and I don't have something awesome up our sleeves?"

"Something awesome is not gonna save you from me," Jasper teased them. "I could crush most of the people here with one toe. You'll be lucky if there's any ocean left once I jump in there." The children crossed their arms.

"I bet you're going to feel awfully embarrassed when you're beaten by two children then," Connie said slyly. "And in front of all these people too. How will you ever show your face again in this town?" Steven was stunned at his best friend's audacity but he couldn't help laughing at the befuddled look on Jasper's face.

"Watch and learn." In a flash she was in a large red bikini, her hair up in a huge ponytail that almost fell down to her butt. "Say good-bye to your precious donuts, humans." Back in the audience, Peridot and Lapis wisely summoned their own umbrellas.

Jasper didn't use her gem strength. With the size of her body she didn't need to. She barely hopped into the air but the force of her weight slapping into the water was still like a giant boulder falling into the sea. The water shot up into the air like a true canon ball had just been fired and doused everyone in the first row. The audience was in awe as Jasper surfaced and they immediately started cheering.

The ex-general smirked arrogantly, flipping her ponytail like a satisfied sorority girl as she looked over at the excited crowd. Pathetic creatures as they were, any attention on her was always well appreciated. She was used to the weaker gems gawking at her talent in the military. This was almost the same, except with weaker, insignificant life forms. "Just try and beat that, kids!"

Steven and Connie's eyes locked, fired with determination and excitement. Mischievous grins crossed their faces and the last thing that Jasper expected was to watch the children twirl in a circle, before forming into one large person nearly rivalling her size. Judging by the shocked expressions on Peridot and Lapis's faces, they were no less surprised.

Stevonnie took a running leap towards the dock and lunged into the air, high above Jasper. They plunged down, and it was as if an atomic bomb had gone off, sending up a mushroom cloud of water and foam. Jasper was soaked to the bone and so was the entire audience. Beaten out of the park, Jasper couldn't find any emotion in her but shock.

"What the-?! You two can FUSE?! Quartz, you can fuse with a HUMAN? That...that is...!" She couldn't help it, and a grin of disbelief crossed her face. "Incredible! I had no idea humans had the ability to fuse! When were you going to tell us this?"

Stevonnie grinned at the force fusion, and Peridot and Lapis that had come closer. "We were waiting for a special occasion!"

"When did you discover this?"

They rang out their hair. "How about we tell you over a box of delicious prize donuts?!"

* * *

"You and Connie fused to win the contest?" Amethyst laughed. "Now that's what you call strategy!" She stuffed her face with one of their donut boxes. "Who says that fusion is just a cheap tactic?" She flashed a grin over to Jasper and the fusion gave a small smirk.

"You got me there..."

"This is an incredibly excessive amount of donuts," Pearl mused, making a face at the strong, sickly sweet scent. "Steven don't humans need a balance of food in their diet in order to maintain proper nutrition?"

"That they do," Garnet agreed, tucking away one of the boxes. "Which is why, Steven, after that box that's it for tonight." A smile tilted her lips. "Besides, when you get upstairs, you and Connie might be too excited with what surprise awaits you to even think about donuts."

The children exchanged wide eyed looks and ran up the stairs, shocked beyond belief at what they saw. There was a large replacement tv where Steven's dismantled one had been before. It had a vibrant screen and higher definition.

"Pearl saved up some cupons."

"I know those meaningless earth papers were good for something..."

Steven leaped nearly ten feet into the air. "This is amazing! This Day Of Fun has officially been the best day EVER! I got to spend time with my new friends, won a contest with my best friend and got a new tv! There's only one thing that can make this day even better!" He opened the box of donuts. "More bed time donuts and some video games on a high definition tv!"

"I call the space simulator game!" Peridot declared, while Lapis and Connie struggled with her. "It's our turn to play, triangle head!" Lapis hissed. "I've been waiting since yesterday to play Animal Railroads!"

Jasper snorted and sat down cross legged in the middle of the floor. A surprisingly exhausted Steven followed, resting his cheek in her lap. "Nerds, right?"

"Yeah..." Steven agreed. "Nerds..."

* * *

 _His eyes shifted in the darkness, adjusting to the surroundings around him. He was enshrouded in a black abyss. It was silent, it was ominous...and he had a feeling that he wasn't alone._

 _Cold, malicious yellow eyes targeted him from the darkness. Her fanged grin was illuminated as brightly as the diamond on her chest. "Welcome, Rose Quartz... I've been expecting you."_

* * *

 _(A/N: Dun dun...)_


	11. Chapter 11

_Fear struck Steven in the heart like an icy knife. He shook his head and attempted to back away. "Yellow Diamond..."_

 _The darkness began to recede and Steven realized he was in a large room. It was empty other then the wiring threading though and several large screens. There was a control panel that looked similar to Peridot's, but it spanned through the entire room and stretched around. There were millions of buttons. Steven couldn't even understand how anyone could remember so many different buttons. There were doors, but they were all closed and coded._

 _"Welcome, Quartz." The woman stood, tall and towering. She was taller then Jasper, taller then Opal. She looked large enough to be a fusion herself. Her golden eyes were as cold as ice, the fanged grin on her face pointed and satiated. "It's nice to finally meet you face to face!"_

 _"F-face to face?" Steven stammered. He stepped back again, struggling to put some distance between them, but he was blocked by the edge of the metal panel._

 _"You're on Homeworld, child." Her smile grew and the pit of terror in Steven's stomach hardened. His heart pounded. Homeworld, he was on Homeworld. He possibly stood where countless gems had fallen and died and been executed. And he could almost picture the glimmering shards in his mind. The shards scattered across the floor in his vision. And Steven didn't know if he was picturing them in the dream or if he was peering into the past._

 _Yellow Diamond watched the peculiar creature as he spun from one direction to the next, looking at the floor and whimpering like it was covered in poisonous snakes. Her eyes glinted but outwardly she maintained a soothing smile. "Calm down now boy. I'm not going to hurt you."_

 _"I don't believe you!" Steven cried. "You hurt everyone! That's all you do is cause pain! You threatened me and my family! You said you were going to rip my gem out of my stomach!"_

 _"Ah yes." Yellow Diamond waved a clawed hand in the air as if that was nothing at all. "It seems we've gotten off on the wrong foot, I apologize for that. My brash temper gets the best of me at times. Same with your dear Jasper!"_

 _The child gave a low growl and his pudgy fists balled up in fury. "You don't have any right to talk about Jasper! Ever! And I'm not going to listen to anything you have to tell me!" He already began storming away, searching for an exit somewhere in the labyrinth of technology._

 _"That's fine, because I'm not going to say anything. I'm going to show you something." The boy didn't turn to her and a smile snaked across the woman's lips. "Don't you want to know more about your mother?" The boy paused dead in his tracks and froze in mid-stride. The fierce look on his face slowly faded to one of uncertainty and secret desire._

 _"A...anything I wanna know about my Mom the gems can tell me. I don't need to hear anything from you!"_

 _Yellow Diamond chuckled. "Your family can't tell you everything. Despite their eternal obsession for her none of them were there at the very beginning. I was. I knew your mother more then your family ever did. Far before your Pearl, your...Garnet, your Jasper, your Peridot...and certainly long before your Amethyst. I know things that none of the Crystal Gems do." The boy kept staring at her and Yellow Diamond shrugged. "But..if you really don't care..."_

 _Steven watched as the large gem hovered her hands in the air. She waved her fingers around, and different paths of light followed each digit as she entered some sort of combination and unlocked the master door. Pretending to walk off Yellow Diamond moved to shut the large door, and Steven ran forward._

 _"Wait!" he exclaimed, holding up a hand. The slender gem looked down at him. "Wh...what all do you know about my mom?" he finally mumbled in resignation._

 _Golden eyes flared with glee as the royal gem slithered her tongue around the inside of her lips like a satisfied cat. She gave the child a sweet smile and bent over slightly to him, draping an arm over his shoulder and guiding him along. "Follow me."_

 _Steven's arms stayed to his sides, stiff like a statue and paralysed in fear. He couldn't even pull away from her, too traumatized to even move. Her touch was as cold and terrifying as he ever imagined it would be._

 _They entered a long tunnel. It was dark, desolate, and seemed never ending. Steven half wondered if Yellow Diamond took him here to murder him without witnesses, and then he wondered if he was even able to die in these things._

 _Yellow Diamond raised a hand and suddenly, the tunnel filled with light. Several circular platforms lit up, each a different color. The gem swiped her hand through the air, across another invisible screen, and Steven heard a low hum, like the start of an engine._

 _"Step forth," Yellow Diamond ordered and stepped onto one of the green platforms. Steven reluctantly obeyed, but he didn't expect what happened next. The glowing disc shot into the air as if it weighed nothing, and Steven yelped and hugged the woman's leg, tightly. Yellow Diamond gave a light and airy chuckle._

 _"I suppose you're unaccustomed to this use of transportation. Look around you, child. Welcome...to Homeworld." The dark tunnel suddenly broke open as they hovered into the air. The stars had never seemed so close before, or so beautiful. Each one glittered the sky, more beautiful then the last. Steven was in complete awe at the spectacle. He watched as stars and ships flew through the air._

 _"This is your mother's home planet. This is where you are originally from, Quartz Child. Magnificent, isn't it?"_

 _He stood against Yellow Diamond's leg for leverage, and slowly, he turned around on the disk, taking in the sights around him. It was overwhelming, amazing. Shuttles passed them and all around Steven could see floating platforms. They took over the sky like a bunch of remote controlled frisbees. "Whoa, gems!" He pointed around, grinning. Other gems, hundreds of them even were travelling through the planet._

 _Steven got down on his hands and knees, kneeling eagerly over the sides of the transparent discs and looking around. There were space ships, odd shaped domes. There wasn't one building on this planet that resembled a house you'd see on earth. There were buildings, structures, cages. Steven had his eyes glued to a certain facility, with a large assortment of different sized tubes and holes. It reminded him of Kindergarden._

 _"Is that where gems are harvested?" the boy asked, eyes widening. There were mines, and large intimidating contraptions that resembled some sort of digging machine. It was like a diamond mine on earth, and there were so many different caves, jagged and gaping._

 _Yellow Diamond smiled. "You're quite right, child! That is where gems are made and harvested. Your very...family, was founded in one of them."_

 _Steven's eyes roved the sky as they flew, and slowly, his excitement waned out when he saw another building. A factory. It pumped smoke into the air, but there was more then the smell of fire. The scent was...almost metallic. It put an awful taste in his mouth and terror into his stomach. He looked closer. They were high up enough that Steven couldn't make out any faces, or their expressions, but he noticed one line of marching gems. They were being...escorted, towards the factory. There was one way in...but Steven didn't see anyone coming out of the building. There was no exit._

 _"...What is that?" His throat tightened and the nausea worsened when he kept watching. One of the gems broke away from the line formation and suddenly in a swift movement from the guards they were reverted back to their stone forms...and carelessly chucked into one of the pipes leading to the smoke. He trembled. "Is that..."_

 _Yellow Diamond suddenly grabbed him by the wrist and pushed him out in front of her as the lift came to a stop in the air. "We're here."_

 _"Th...there's nothing here." Yellow Diamond suddenly summoned an unseen keypad from the lift and punched in a code combination. She slid her fingers over the screen. It beeped, and suddenly, like the flicker of a tv signal an entrance cracked open in the sky._

 _The lift passed into darkness and the rest of the planet disappeared into a void. Steven could only catch a glimpse of the smoke before it disappeared from view and Yellow Diamond had grabbed his shoulder to get his attention again._

 _"Welcome, Quartz Child to_ The Chambers Of Time _..." Yellow Diamond stepped back and let the curious boy come forward. The walls reminded him of the rooms back in the temple. This cave was the only thing somewhat primitive in this technology-run world._

 _"You are currently standing in what used to be the harvesting grounds for the Rose Quartz gems. Hundreds of Rose Quartz have been harvested here, your mother included. Your mother was why this place was created, in her name. Well...in Pink Diamond's name."_

 _Steven spun around and stared at the large gem. He couldn't believe what he just heard. "My mother...was a...a Diamond?" How could it be? How could the loving mother, the embodiment of goodness and purity, ever hold the same name as this wicked soul?_

 _"She was," Yellow Diamond said with a nod. "Well somewhat. She was high up enough that she was nicknamed a Diamond, but she wasn't quite up into the authority yet. There was her, myself, Blue, and the Superior of us all, White Diamond. Sisters of time, of the entire Empire Of Homeworld._ _Rose was not a harvested diamond but from the moment of her harvest White Diamond knew she was special."_

 _Yellow Diamond moved across the cave floor and towards a panel in the room. Steven recognized it. It was very similar to what was in his mother's armory. "She had an ability that no other gem did. ...She could heal. You see, child, gems are formed with different abilities depending on the class they're in. Healers are very rare to come by...you might say, as rare as a_ diamond..." _She snickered at her own joke. "Your mother was a valuable asset just from that alone."_

 _Steven pressed his hand on the panel and his gem started to glow and projected several different images on the wall. All of his mother. His mother's harvest, his mother in a small throne, in armor with a diamond cut around her stomach. His mother on the battle field... He teared up._

 _"Healers back then were almost unheard of, and although we've always had a good care facility we never had the ability to perform the miracles your mother could. Rose was treasured by White Diamond for her abilities. Rose Quartz was promoted up into the Diamond Authority. Technically. She was White Diamond's adviser and healer, until White Diamond was shattered."_

 _Steven's eyes widened. "Shattered? When? Why? In the war?"_

 _Yellow shook her head sadly...but there was something fake in her eyes. "No, it was terrible though. Truly terrible. White Diamond was a substantial ruler, but apparently not enough to keep Rose loyal." She sneered._

 _"I don't understand it." Steven shook his head. "If Mom and White were buddy-buddy then why did she come to earth?"_

 _"Your mother was put in charge of the next invasion. She was supposed to lead it. It was her first invasion actually. Up until then she had stayed on Homeworld as the healer. She fell in love with your inferior planet and that was it. She wouldn't touch it. She refused to allow White to take her forces there. A gem had never turned on their planet before, but Rose started a new revolution. One by one other gems followed her until she had gathered an army of thousands. All of them were known as..." She paused and looked down at the boy. "The Crystal Gems..."_

 _Steven's mind flashed. The shards, the cluster, the projections of memories he had seen of the war... "And...and they all died. All of them but...my family."_

 _Yellow Diamond curbed the sickening smile threatening to spread across her face. "Yes, they did. Many of Homeworld's did as well. And it was even more difficult for Homeworld since we no longer had our healer. Many more of us died then the ones on your planet. White had no idea how to heal them."_

 _The large gem walked around him in a slow circle and Steven lifted his shirt, gazing morosely at the quartz on his belly. He felt a deep sense of guilt for Homeworld. If he had been there...if she had been there, they could have saved so many._

 _"Luckily...when I came into power, I devised a simple solution to our broken gem problem. And as a matter of fact, we passed it on our way here." Steven didn't even need to think twice on that one. He knew she was talking about the smoke, and the pipes. He knew it smelled metallic._

 _"No..." he whimpered._

 _"We can harvest gems by the hundreds. Why bother to waste time and energy and finances on trying to heal the weak when we can recycle them and build stronger?"_

 _"Bu—but they're gems!" Steven cried. "They're people! You can't just kill people and act like it's nothing! They're gems! They're not just supposed to be your toys and you—you replace them when they're broken!"_

 _"Oh but it's easier that way. It saves precious time, and with all of the fusion experiments it creates stronger weapons. But that's where you come in..." She turned, and suddenly, she was right there in front of him, eyeing him with hunger. "I need_ you."

* * *

Lapis had gone back to her room, and Jasper, Connie, and Peridot stayed awake. Steven as far as they knew was sleeping peacefully in his bed. And it was all calm, and tranquil. They couldn't possibly imagine what he was going through in his mind right now.

"I think so far this Asteroid game is my favorite," Jasper said as she mashed at buttons and grinned as she exploded Peridot's ship, and the smaller gem hissed angrily and tried to keep from screeching.

"I love them all," Connie grinned. "I love playing them with Steven, because I don't get much of a chance to play them on my own. My parents frown upon video games."

"How could they disapprove of something so...entertaining?" Peridot asked in disbelief as her pixelated ship came back to life and she sent a torrent of missiles into Jasper, cackling as she got sweet revenge. "Granted it's nothing compared to the tech of Homeworld—and even if it was we certainly don't use it for _fun—_ but it still is...fun!"

"Yeah." Connie shrugged. "But it's not academics so according to them it's not something I should be focused on too much."

"Academics..." Jasper wrinkled her face. "See I don't get that crap. In Homeworld we didn't have that. Of course we didn't have fun either. We had...nothing, really. We did what our Superiors told us to and...that was it. Gems were usually born with the knowledge that we needed. It was manufactured into us. There were different classes of course, and they all specialized in something. But..." She shook her head. "No playgrounds, no...what do you call it—canon ball wars—no...well, freedom."

Connie looked at the two gems. The light from the tv illuminated the sadness on both gems' faces. "How did you live like that? Why would you... _want_ to live like that?"

Jasper shrugged. "We didn't have a choice, kid. Every day was just about trying to stay on your commander's good side so you don't get shattered, or tortured. Had to shut yourself down if you wanted to survive." She looked over at Peridot and her lips tilted up into a smile. "But...Peri and I broke the rules and found some ways to have fun."

The green gem let out a loud giggle. "Ou, remember when we used to dismantle Commander Topaz's cruiser and fill the engines with gem serpents and watch them overflow into the ship when she turned it on?" Both gems started laughing.

"Heh..." Connie giggled nervously and scratched the back of her neck. "Steven and I pull pranks too sometimes, but...never with snakes. If we did they'd probably be harmless ones. And I can't think of anyone mean enough to do that to. I guess we mostly find different ways to have fun together."

Jasper gave a grunt and pulled out the game disc. "I'm bored with this one," she muttered, picking up _Animal Railroads_ and pushing it into the box. "So what's the deal with you and the brat anyway? When are you actually going to suck it up and do...I don't know, whatever it is you humans do when you like each other..."

Connie's face went beet red and she held her mouth, stunned. "Wh—what do you mean?"

"You know..." Jasper gestured in the air. "I guess there's not much you can do since you're both little larvas. I don't know much about, what's it called...dating, anyway. You don't see that much on Homeworld and what I did see of Ruby and Sapphire was enough to turn me off it." She shuddered. "Ech."

"Dating?!" Connie yelped. "We don't—I don't-!"

"Oh come on," Jasper snorted. "The kid goes red every time he looks at you!" Her eyes met Peridot's briefly and she paused, ignoring the heat that bloomed across her cheeks. "You should see the way his eyes sparkle when he talks about you! It's disgusting!"

"We-!" The child's voice climbed up to a high pitched squeak. "We're just friends! M-maybe best friends... That's all! I don't—Steven couldn't possibly think of me like that..." She hugged herself, face redder.

"But how do you feel?" Peridot asked. Before Connie could respond the green gem's fingers suddenly lit up, and a beam of lime green light passed over the child. Information appeared on her screen and she nodded. "Your heart rate goes up when you talk about him. Did you know that?"

"C-can we please just play Animal Railroads?" Connie fumbled, her hands sweaty on the controller and struggling to even hold it. Jasper surprised her by giving her a friendly nudge.

"Aw come on, nothing to be embarrassed about!" She snickered as the girl hid behind her hair, shrunken into a ball of humiliation. "Lips are sealed. I just think you should tell him sometime. Just..." She made a face. "Don't turn into a couple of gross lovesick puppies like Square Woman."

At that Connie relaxed and laughed. "Deal." She pressed start on the bright neon menu. "Alright first you've got to create a character..."

* * *

 _Yellow Diamond came forward to him and the terrified child backed up desperately as she bent down to his level. "I need you..."_

 _"Wh-what?" Steven whimpered. Sweat poured every passing second the crazed woman looked at him, like a hungry cat stalking a mouse. "What do you need from me? M-my healing powers?"_

 _Yellow Diamond snorted. "Oh please, what would I want of those? No...I need your mind. Your brilliant mind."_

 _"What?"_

 _"You're a product of your mother, you have her gem. And I know deep down you have her mind. Her strength. Her powers. With your help we could accomplish anything. You'd be helping a good cause...you'd be helping your true home prosper." She was so close now that they were face to face. Steven could feel her breath on his face and felt the edges of her hair tickle his cheeks._

 _"You'd be getting something in return of course." She chuckled. "A lot in return. I'm willing to spare your little family, Jasper and Peridot included...and possibly a few others you deem important to you. You may all return to Homeworld and it will be like the rebellion never happened in the first place. You'll be welcomed home with open arms. You can have anything you wish and live happily ever after. You just need to give me...your planet."_

 _"I-I..." Steven whispered. He felt his body tremble._

 _"Oh it's after your family is evacuated, don't worry! And if you like I can even try and find a way to lengthen your human family's lifespan to a more significant time. The rest of the world will be ours. Imagine the things we could accomplish, the experiments! The discoveries! It's limitless. And all you have to do...is say yes."_

 _Slender, cold fingers reached out and tilted Steven's head up, eyes wide and excited, mouth turned up gleefully. "What do you say, Quartz?"_

 _Steven stared at her. Wide, black eyes completely frozen to those malicious golden orbs. He had never seen so much evil. He had never felt such an overwhelming hatred. And then, suddenly, he struck her hand, hard. Hard enough that it slammed back into her own face. She recoiled in shock, her yellow cheek now having a single, angry mark across it._

 _"No! NEVER! I'll never side with you! I would rather DIE then have anything to DO with you! You're evil, you're a monster! And I will NEVER stop fighting you! And I will never—EVER_ **LET YOU TOUCH MY PLANET!"**

 _Suddenly his gem flashed a blinding light, as brief as a flash of lightning, but it pulsed with a sudden wave of rage that sent Yellow Diamond stumbling back onto the ground as the child towered over her._

 _"I'll never do anything you say! I'm GLAD Mom turned on you! And I'm glad that Jasper, Peridot and Lapis did too! And I'm never going to stop trying to tear you down and get those gems AWAY from you! 'Cause you're not a gem, Yellow Diamond! Y-you're lower then the dirt we find on earth!"_

 _Yellow Diamond's eyes narrowed into the most malicious, and vengeful daggers he had ever seen. Her lips pulled back as she snarled and suddenly yanked the boy up by his shirt collar. Steven cried out in agony as her claws ripped through his shirt, and into his skin._

 _"If that's the way you want it, you little parasite..." She sneered. "Then I won't stop until I've drained all of the blood in your little fleshy form, and emptied your planet of human life. You're going to regret ever crossing me. You're going to be begging for that deal when you watch me slowly crush the hearts of everyone you ever_ loved..."

* * *

"Is there any killing in this?"

"No. But you get to water flowers and build homes." Jasper gagged but Connie scrolled through the options of the animals. "I'm an elephant!"

"I'm a..." Jasper blinked as she stumbled upon a furry, gray menacing looking creature with a bushy tail and pointed ears. "...Wolf? Oh, I've got fangs!...Cool!" She scrolled through the accessories options and snickered at a pair of large glasses. "Hey Dork, I found something perfect for you."

"Oh shut up, Jasper." The light playful squabbling and beeping buttons was interrupted by a shrill cry behind them, making all three turn sharply. "No, you can't do that! Please!"

"What the hell?" Jasper stood up instantly, eyes wide as Steven started to sob and thrash in his bed. "What's wrong with him? What's going on?!" She remembered what Steven said, about the night-fright humans got. "Is he having one of those frightening sleep visions?"

Connie climbed onto the bed, frazzled herself. "I—I don't know! Steven, it's us! Wake up!" She gently shook him but the child didn't rouse. So Jasper tried next, scooping up the kid into her arms and jiggling him roughly.

"Snap out of it, idiot! You're fine! You're okay!" When that didn't work she tried to be more soothing. "Uhhh...we're here. No one is gonna hurt you." The rough jostling became more of a rocking motion and that seemed to calm the boy. His hysterics dwindled so Jasper kept holding him. Peridot and Connie held their breath. "...I think it worked."

She was just about to lay Steven back down when suddenly, underneath the pink fabric of his pajamas, his gem glowed. That was especially strange since the kid wasn't even conscious enough to do anything, let alone activate his gem. "What the..."

The glow became blinding before it produced a ray of light and projected an image into the air. She nearly dropped the boy and stepped back from the projection, stunned and horrified by what she saw. "No..."

There was Yellow Diamond and she was tightly gripping Steven by his shirt collar as the helpless child struggled and whimpered. As if the large gem could sense their presence, she turned and stared at them. Yellow, icy eyes glared into Jasper's soul.

"I don't know if you're there, Crystal Gems—or you, especially Jasper _._ But your time is running out. You'll pay, _General,"_ she spat with hate. "For turning on your colony. And this precious little larva you all gave yourself up for will be the first thing I tear limb from limb in front of your very eyes. After all...I always did wonder how much blood a human child has gained since the last survey. Until we meet again, gems. Trust me...I look forward to it."

The screen vanished and all the group was left with was a panicked child that had awoken and started bawling into Jasper's chest, and the silence and terror that stretched around them.

* * *

 _(A/N: Shit going down again. Man I love YD. Crazy wonderful bitch she is. I've gotten a lot of private messages about this fic and I'm overwhelmed at the love it's received. You're all so wonderful. I have a clear cut path of where this is going to go and how it's going to end but I'm welcoming any suggestions any f my readers have. Who knows, it might end up in it~ Also, I'm on vacation so updates will be spotty.)_


	12. Chapter 12

The room was deathly silent for the next several minutes. It stretched on for what felt like an hour, not even a single breath released other then Steven's, who's came out relentlessly in sharp sobs and hiccups as he trembled violently.

Three pairs of desperate eyes looked to Jasper, and she was still too shocked to snarl at them all to stop staring at her. Golden eyes were frozen open, locked over to stare at the wall straight ahead. She exhaled shakily and looked down at Steven.

No one spoke and then Peridot's shaking murmur broke the silence. "Was...was that...?"

"Yes," Jasper said, her voice strained with anger, confusion, and although she would never admit it, fear. "...It was."

"But...HOW?!" the green gem shrieked, starting to pace back and forth over the wooden tiles. "How is it possible?" She walked back and forth, murmuring and muttering and pulling at her hair. "There must be some sort of communication pod nearby that...picked up the signal or something since she...she spoke to us! It was a message, and it was meant for us!"

Lapis shook her head. "How could it be a message? St-Steven was in it! That sort of thing only happens in dreams, right? If it was a message from Homeworld Steven would only be in it if he was in Homeworld!"

"What's going on?!" Connie demanded, frantic eyes darting from one yelling gem to her sobbing friend. "Was that someone from your planet?!"

"But she was clearly talking to US!" Peridot shouted back, her screeching voice becoming more frantic by the second. "You saw that! That message was meant for us!" The two gems fired back arguments and both paced. Lapis's panic caused the water in the glasses by Steven's bed to float into the air, and hover around the room in distress.

"EVERYBODY SHUT UP!" Jasper finally roared. The gems froze and the water splashed to the floor. "One hysterical brat at a time—please!" She let Steven sob into her, and plunked heavily onto the boy's bed. "Kid, calm down," she huffed, but her tone was gentle. "Alright, what's going on? What all did you see?"

"What's going on?" Steps thundered up the staircase as Amethyst barrelled up, while Pearl and Garnet jumped the railing and landed beside the group. Pearl was all over Steven like a neurotic mother, while Garnet hounded Jasper.

"We heard yelling. Why is Steven crying?"

"Did he have a bad dream?" Amethyst asked, patting the boy's cheek affectionately. "Was it about the man eating salmon that ravages the city and eats the last of the limited edition chips? I told him not to eat that stuff before bed." She shook her head. "Messes your mind."

Pearl stared at her blankly and shook her head, scooping Steven away from an almost reluctant Jasper. "Steven, shh shh! Tell me what's wrong." She examined him. "Are you hurt? Did you have a nightmare? Are you sick?" She was babbling, trying to keep herself calm more then the child. "If it was just a nightmare talk to us! Nightmares are nightmares, Steven. They can't hurt you!"

"I-I s-saw Yellow Diamond!" he wailed. "And she attacked me! She-!" Pearl silenced him by crushing him to her chest. "Shh... well it's alright now. It was just a bad dream."

Jasper stood up. "No, it wasn't."

Pearl ruffled Steven's hair. "Now I know that the reality of the situation is that Yellow Diamond wants to hunt us down, but there's no need to frighten Steven further by making him think his nightmares are out to get him."

"She talked to us!" Jasper snapped and everyone shut up. The Crystal Gems looked at her.

"What do you mean...she talked to you?" Pearl asked slowly. "That's not possible," Garnet said bluntly. "We're nowhere near a communication hub other then the wailing stone. And we didn't hear it make a single noise. Unless her transmission came through by the tv or through one of you, then...it isn't possible." She seemed to be trying to reassure herself more then anything.

"He...we thought he was having a nightmare but his gem projected her." Jasper shook her head. "It seemed to be a nightmare because he was there, with her. But then...she turned to us."

"I saw Homeworld!" Steven suddenly wailed, covering his face. "And I saw—I saw the smoke! I saw gems being pushed towards the smoke and melted! I saw it!" He clawed to Pearl's shirt. "She brought me to...to _The Chambers Of Time."_

Terror curdled in their stomachs and any doubt was erased immediately. Steven had no idea what The Chambers Of Time was or that such a place existed. Steven had been on Homeworld.

"His telepathy," Garnet mumbled, putting a hand on the shaking boy's head. "It served as its own communication hub. Steven...was on Homeworld."

Pearl teared up and snuggled Steven so deeply into her chest he almost disappeared. "Oh, my poor baby!"

"Steven saw her?" Amethyst's eyes darted from one gem to the next. "Are you serious? What did she say? What did she want?"

The boy sobbed more. "She...she wanted to try and make a deal with me, and when I didn't accept she..." He whimpered. "She said she was going to kill us all."

"What was the deal?" Garnet pressed, but he turned back into Pearl. "I-I don't want to talk about it!" They all urged to demand the details from him, but Steven was shaken enough as it was right now. There was no need to worsen that. Gently, she took Steven from Pearl and sat him softly beside Connie. He clung to her instead.

"Connie, can you calm Steven down?" Garnet asked. Taken aback and confused of the whole situation, Connie just numbly nodded as she draped an arm around Steven. "Gems, we need to talk."

* * *

The team situated themselves in the living room below, where they would be a safe distance away from Steven and Connie. Tensions were high, shoulders trembled, hearts beat fast.

"Sh-she talked to Steven," Pearl whimpered, holding her head as she mumbled incoherently. "I...I can't believe she talked to Steven." Garnet's visor disguised most of what she was feeling, but her fists clenched.

"We always knew Yellow Diamond wanted him," Garnet said quietly. "But I never thought...she would attempt to go for him herself." How dare she attempt to make a deal with their Steven...

"There's something I don't get though!" Amethyst grunted. "How did she even know she could talk to him to begin with? How on earth did she find a way to tap into his mind like that?"

"She didn't just tap into his mind," Garnet responded, and her tone had become harder. Jasper and Peridot felt the tension shift...towards them. "She tapped into his gem because Steven's telekinetic abilities came from it. But you are right, Amethyst. There is no way she could have known." All eyes shifted to Jasper and Peridot, suspicious and angered.

Jasper's fang poked into her bottom lip and she felt Peridot slink slightly behind her. "Okay, yeah!" she snapped. "The kid talked to me a few times and then—I told Yellow Diamond!" The group's expression became angrier and even Jasper felt smaller under their rage. "Look, I—I didn't know!" she sputtered. "I had no idea that the future would turn into...this! We were on opposite sides! We hated each other! I was supposed to tell Yellow Diamond every information I knew about the Quartz that I did! I..." Her tone fell slightly, to one of genuine guilt. "I never cared that I was putting him in danger at the time. And I never thought that I ever would." She shrugged helplessly. "I can't...change it. Memory erasing powers are not my forte, you know."

Garnet gave a solemn nod. "You're right, you can't. None of us can change the past, but...we're all on the same side now." She looked at her two team mates. "Now I...I suppose we are all Crystal Gems, and that means protecting this planet, and Steven."

Lapis, Jasper and Peridot all exchanged nods. "So what do we do now?" Lapis asked. "To keep Yellow Diamond from attacking Steven again?"

"Unfortunately there isn't...much that we can do," Garnet grunted, the tight expression on her face showing how she felt about that answer. "This is a gem ability, an unconscious one, just like my Future Vision. The only way we can cease all gem functions is by retreating into our gem. But we don't know if Steven can do that yet. Since he's half human there's a chance that if he did retreat...he wouldn't come back."

Pearl's shoulders trembled at the thought and possibility of that horror. "We can't stop Yellow Diamond from contacting him, so all we can do is just...watch over him?" Amethyst kicked the ground in frustration.

"But that's hardly anything."

"I used to watch him while he slept all the time." Pearl rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "If I explained it I...I'm sure he'd understand."

"No." Everyone looked over at Jasper and Peridot. "We're the reason she's going after him in the first place. This is our fault, let us be his guardians."

Pearl flared. "I think not! You're right, this IS your fault! All of this is! So why should we trust you with-"

"Deal," Garnet agreed. The two gems gaped at her in shock. "This is their fault, but it's also the only way that they can make up for it. Steven is in good hands with them."

Jasper snickered. "Besides, Peridot and I stay up all night in his room anyway. It'd be perfect. And he gets excited when we stay in the room with him." She raised an eyebrow. "Calls it a...sleepover? If she comes back, I'll find a way into his dream and beat her so badly she'll think twice before even opening her mouth again!"

* * *

Steven hadn't slept at all the rest of the night, and barely muttered a good-bye when Greg came to get Connie. He was just so tired and after that fright nothing could get him to go back to sleep again. Not Connie's gentle melody, not the gruff, but well meaning Jasper, and not even when his eyes burned so much from lack of sleep and dehydration that he could hardly keep them open. Of all the trauma the boy had endured, this was surely the worst.

It weighed heavily on the gems as well. Barely a word was spoken the next morning and Steven and Amethyst didn't even want breakfast. Pearl sat drumming her fingers and looking out to the sea, Lapis had retreated into her room again, and Jasper and Peridot paced outside, where the larger gem splintered rocks into two.

"It's not FAIR!" Jasper roared as she slammed her fists down with the force of Garnet's gauntlets, sending up an explosion of sand and ripping a rock right up the middle. The sand cloud settled and rage filled her dust covered face. "I hate this! We've never been so...lost on what to do before! We always had a way to protect our comrades! But I don't know how to fight...this! Why do we have to be so helpless?!"

Peridot brushed the sand off her armor and face, tired eyes showing her defeat and frustration, though she said nothing.

"A telepathic nightmare?!" Jasper snarled, ripping at her own hair. "Are you kidding me? How the hell do you prepare for that?! I can dash into the battle field and cream any worm attacking one of my soldiers, but I can't just...jump into dreams! I mean we don't know how this stupid ability of his works, and thanks to us, Yellow Diamond knows he has it at all! We know how smart that conniving tyrant is! She could find a way to harness this knowledge and then we'll all really be in danger!"

Peridot winced as she was sprinkled with pebbles, and a larger shard of rock caused her to stagger. "Knock it off, will you!" she hissed at the woman. "If you keep this up you will destroy the temple—and then we won't even have a BASE to protect us anymore!"

"I'LL DESTROY WHATEVER I WANT!" Jasper roared, and suddenly a tidal wave washed over both her and Peridot, the force of the unexpected wave sending them both tumbling into the sand. Peridot leaped up immediately, furious.

"Oh, nice going you idiot!" she snapped, trying to shake the water out of her appendages. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to get WATER out of this stupid armor?"

"That wasn't even me!" Jasper snapped back, and then frowned in confusion as it clicked. It wasn't her. It wasn't Peridot either. So then... Slowly, she turned. With the source of the attack she half expected it to be Lapis and got ready to yell at her. So to see what it actually was just doubled the horror.

First a large hand shot out of the shallows like something of a zombie movie, digging its fingernails into the sand and dragging itself to the surface. Like a mutated spider, dozens of legs crawled out from the water. And that's when both gems realized that the skin on its arms was...partially melted and even more deformed then the monster itself. Burns, the two realized in horror. Hundreds of them.

It was such a horrific sight that Peridot nearly vomited, holding her mouth and shaking as Jasper yanked her back against her and away from the towering limbs that lunged for them.

"MOVE!" Jasper roared and shoved Peridot aside as one of the large appendages came down like a crack of thunder. The mutation narrowed several sets of hateful eyes towards them both and the two could sense its rage even without a snarling mouth.

Peridot sent a green missile shooting into the air and it exploded into an array of green webbed designs, illuminating the house even through the daylight, and hopefully, alerting the gems.

"Is that the Cluster?!" she demanded, laser extracted and ready to fire as she backtracked into the sand with the large gem. "When did it...when did it become so big?"

Jasper shook her head, dodging into the sand and sending up another cloud as she summoned her helmet and smashed it into one of the mutant's legs. The creature didn't even flinch. "I don't know, but we're in trouble if we can't harness it!" A damaged fist lunged forward for her, and it was halted mid thrust as a purple rope wrapped tightly around it, pulling it back.

"Someone say something about harness?" Amethyst grinned, standing on the mutant's shoulder. "I don't know how long that'll last though." Already the creature began to buck and twist, its stomping feet showing just how enraged it was.

"I don't understand this though!" Jasper growled as she rolled out of the way of one of the swinging limbs. "None of the clusters we made were this big!" By the looks of the amalgamation there were more then twenty gem shards mashed together, each one damaged as much as the burnt limbs that belonged to it.

"The surviving ones all formed together somehow," Garnet said and was visibly trying to keep her emotions in check as she stared up at the tortured souls of her once-comrades and friends. "Perhaps the fire did it. Gems, attack at once!"

They all lunged up together, sheathing their swords, gauntlets, helmets, and whatever else they had in their arsenal. It struck into the cluster, and knocked off a small portion of the shards, which clattered into the sand. A few of its many limbs disappeared, but it wasn't enough. It hardly put a dent into the creature.

The monster reared back on many hind legs and stretched its multi-arms into the air, forming them into claws like a mute battle cry. Then the gems watched with horror as the thing lunged towards the temple, tearing a hole through it.

"Steven!" Garnet shouted as the large group bolted to the steps. They heard windows smashing, wood splintering, and Steven's loud screams of horror. By the time the group had burst through the door it had all fallen silent. What remained of the house's ruins was strewn about the roofless kitchen. The stairs had collapsed, Rose's portrait was broken, and shuffling under the debris on his bed was a very terrified little boy.

"Steven!" Pearl ran to him immediately. "Are you okay? That thing, where did it go?!" The trembling boy barely managed to point a finger up, his eyes glued to the warp pad. "It-it could...use the warp pad! Wh-what was that thing?!"

"What remains of the cluster," Garnet said quietly. "And I think I know where it went. Gems, we need to head out!"

"Okay." Steven squirmed out of Pearl's arms and climbed dizzily to his feet. Under his eyes were black and baggy, eyes half lidded. "Just let me go to the bathroom first." Before he had a chance to walk away, Garnet gently grabbed him by the collar.

"Not you Steven." She shook her head. "You're barely even awake right now. If you were to come on this mission, you would need to be alert. Far more then you are now." The child was already starting to sink in her grasp, and his head lolling to the side only proved her point. "You're staying here. But we need someone to protect you."

There was a loud groan from the group as Jasper stomped forward. "Alright, I see where this is going," the gem snapped moodily. "I agreed to be the brat's guardian so I'm stuck with babysitting duty—again."

Garnet shook her head. "No. Jasper, we need yours and Lapis's strength for all of this." She looked over to Peridot. "Peridot will watch Steven. You two are coming with us." She started to the warp pad with the others as Peridot grumpily slumped beside the boy on what was left of the couch. Jasper however stood dumbstruck.

"Wait." Her mouth hung. "Are you for real? I get to come?" Her entire core filled with excitement, the urge to jump up and down nearly uncontrollable. "I really, seriously get to come?" Stars sprung to her eyes. "I get to come monster hunting with you guys?"

The group was already on the warp pad and they rolled their eyes. "Yo, you coming or not?" Amethyst snapped. "Because we're going, and we're going now!" The orange gem gave something that could only be described as a girlish squeal as she ran over to the group and disappeared into the light.

The team searched the horizon as they arrived in Kindergarden, but the closed in cliffs made it impossible to see anything beyond, or hear as well. Since the Cluster couldn't make a noise, it would be even harder to track it.

"Kindergarden..." Pearl shook her head. "But why would it come back here? It just escaped from this place! Wouldn't it be trying to get away?"

"Maybe..." Garnet adjusted her visor. "Or maybe since this is where it was taken and formed, it thinks it can put itself back together. It's confused, and it's scared, and with its size it is very powerful and dangerous. It doesn't know that we're just trying to help it. It's injured and frightened."

"Why doesn't it just retreat to heal its burns or something?" Amethyst asked. "I mean, it looks like something out of a horror movie! That's gotta be real painful!"

"It can't retreat." Garnet lowered her head. "It isn't a full gem. It's just a mix of different shards, and there's no way to regenerate. It..." Her voice cracked slightly. "Its forced to be in the pain that its in." She brushed her fingers under her visor and turned to her team. "We need to track it. There's many places it can be in Kindergarden, so we should cover different areas. Pearl, Amethyst, you'll be with me." She looked at Jasper and Lapis. "You two...you'll be together."

"What?!" Jasper and Lapis simultaneously shrieked.

"Check around what's left of Peridot's control panel and this surrounding area. Amethyst and Pearl and I will go deeper into Kindergarden." She looked at Amethyst. "Amethyst lived here for many years, so she'll be able to navigate through the deeper parts of this facility."

"Me—and the water witch together?!" Jasper demanded. "Have you lost your mind?! We can't work together!" They could barely stand to be in the same room together!

"If you find the cluster signal us," Garnet instructed. "And we'll all come running. We have to get rid of this thing before it escapes through earth and puts the humans in danger. Alert us if you see anything." With one leap the trio was gone. Jasper stood there with her mouth hanging.

"I can't believe...they put me with YOU!" She whirled around angrily to the blue gem. Lapis scoffed.

"They probably couldn't stand the thought of working with you of all people, so they left you with me." Jasper bared her teeth.

"They probably couldn't stand YOUR incessant whining and flitting around like a stupid little water fairy, that's more like an annoying GNAT then anything else!"

Lapis flared. "Whatever!" she snapped. "Let's just find this stupid cluster thing so we can go back to avoiding and hating each other!"

"I'm already hating you," Jasper grumbled as she stormed off after the blue gem. "And I don't need the stupid cluster thing to do that!"

* * *

"Keep your ears out gems," Garnet advised as she punched away a mass of boulders blocking their path and ventured deeper into the bleak looking canyons. "It may not be able to make a sound, but it can sure stomp loudly enough."

Amethyst climbed up on Pearl's shoulders and peered through one of the openings into a larger cave. "Hm...I don't think it would be in here! It's probably too big to fit inside of here..."

"Then get off of me!" Pearl snapped. The purple gem made sure to climb down Pearl's face before plopping to the ground.

"So what are we gonna do with this thing anyway?" Amethyst wondered. "Are we just gonna bubble it up like we do with everything else that's corrupted?" Suddenly she slammed into Garnet's back, and Pearl and Amethyst realized that Garnet had stopped walking.

"...Garnet?" Pearl asked quietly. They couldn't see the leader's face, but they felt the pain roll off of her in palpable waves. She turned her head away from them. "Garnet?" Amethyst and Pearl looked at each other. "Hey..." Pearl walked up next to her. "I know it's hard..seeing the cluster, seeing them like that, especially for you of all people, but it will be alright." She tried to smile. "We can stop it and bubble it and it's going to be fine! ...Right?"

"It's just..." The leader clenched her fists. "They can't even regenerate. Those shards...those gems...they're burned and injured and in agony and there's nothing they can do about it!"

"Yeah but there's stuff _we_ can do about it!" Amethyst said hopefully. "Once we get them back into shard form they won't be suffering anymore!"

"Will they though?" Garnet finally turned to them. "Gems, we can't pull the shards apart. I-I don't know how. We'd be forced to bubble them the way they are now, as a cluster. We know that...that there is no way to put them back together again." Her voice became more strained. "They're dead, but...does that mean they're entirely non sentient?"

Pearl and Amethyst looked at each other, but they realized that they couldn't answer that question. As fully functional, whole gems, there was no way they could know.

"We've never been shattered before, so we don't know what happens. They lose their physical form, but...can they still feel? Can they still hear? Keeping them morphed together in the painful form they're in just...keeps them a prisoner."

"But...Garnet," Pearl said gently. "Bubbling gems is all we can do right now. We don't know how to save them. We can't...bring them back to life. That's something we know we can't do."

"I know." The two were shocked to see the leader's lip tremble. "The only thing we can do is...set them free." She turned away, but Pearl and Amethyst already saw the tear falling. They gave a soft gasp.

"You mean...we have to...destroy the shards?" Pearl asked softly. Garnet nodded difficultly.

"Pearl, Amethyst...sometimes being a leader is hard. You don't always know what to do, and you...you don't know if you're making the right choice. I have to do what's best for the team..." She wiped her eyes. "And that means the entire team...even the ones that aren't with us anymore."

There was a long silence before a hand slipped into each of hers, and her team mates stood next to her on either side with tears in their eyes.

"We don't know what's always right either," Pearl said softly. She squeezed her hand. "But we are a team," Amethyst added. "And that means that we'll support you no matter what you decide." The three didn't say anything else as they exchanged quivering smiles and pressed hands silently.

* * *

"I don't even see how you became a General, you don't even know how to scout out an enemy."

Jasper whirled to the flying blue gem over her head. "Watch it, brat!" she snarled. "You're right above me and you know I can easily rip those STUPID WINGS RIGHT OFF YOUR BACK!"

Lapis sneered down at Jasper and she suddenly ripped her hand right through one of her wings, tearing them. Her gem glowed and water molecules formed around the appendage, mending it back together in moments.

Jasper growled and her golden eyes became even more hateful. "You think you always have an answer to everything, don't you? But if you're so smart I don't see how you haven't managed to find the stupid monster yet. Especially since you can FLY!"

Lapis growled and slapped her water wing close to where Jasper's face was. "That's because it's probably in hiding knowing you're around! You and that green freak of yours are the whole reason this mess was even started in the first place! You're why there is a cluster, so I don't see what you're so angry at me for! I didn't make this thing, you did!"

Jasper gave a hard laugh. "Oh right, at least I accomplished something in my life, where your greatest success was escaping out of a mirror!" She revelled in the fury on Lapis's face. The blue gem was teeming with rage. She decided to go in for the kill.

"Success?" she laughed. "Success? You call what you accomplished in life personal achievement? At least I escaped on my own! At least I had a life and a personal achievement! All you ever were was Yellow Diamond's errand gem! You didn't even HAVE a life that was your own! You weren't even your own person! You spent your life thinking you were this amazing gem when all you were was a joke! You were Yellow Diamond's dog and on a leash from the day you were MADE! All you were was a pawn and that's all you'll ever be!"

She could tell she hit her where it hurt as Jasper's eyes flickered in pain before murder set in. "That TEARS IT!" she roared and leaped into the air, summoning her helmet in a blind fury. The blue gem jerked out of the sky and soared around her, delivering a swift kick right to Jasper's back.

"You think that you can talk down to ME?" Jasper screamed. "You think just because the Crystal Dorks are around that it will protect you from ME?!" She rammed her helmet into the blue gem, sending her hurtling into the wall.

"I don't NEED anyone to protect me!" Lapis shouted back as she darted out of the wall like a watery arrow and hit Jasper full speed, sending the orange gem tumbling back and into one of the machines. It shattered and showered Jasper with its purple liquid. "You think you can just bully me because I'm smaller then you? Because you think I'm less then you? I am more then you will ever be, MUTANT!"

"I'M GONNA MURDER YOU!" Jasper lunged fully on the water gem and wrapped her large fist around the other's thin neck. "I'll squeeze you until you disappear into your stone and then I'll crush that UNDERNEATH MY FEET!" Lapis struggled in her grip, legs kicking in the air. Jasper grinned maliciously.

"Whatcha gonna do now, Water Princess? Just face it, you're helpless without a lake to hide in."

Lapis snarled. "That's what you think..." Suddenly, her gem began to glow and the earth shook with a low rumble. Jasper kept her grip, but she looked around warily as the rumbling became more extreme. The sound...of rushing water.

Suddenly a torrent of ocean water slammed down the cliff walls, splintering the machinery around them into kindling and shards of glass as the water rushed towards Jasper. It knocked into the large gem and tossed her into the land as Lapis soared as high as the sun, and floated right there in the sunlight.

"I'm done being your punching bag! And I'm done seeing your face!" She jerked her arms up, and suddenly, the water began to rise. More falls pooled down the cliffs and joined the large wall, getting bigger and bigger. It cast a shadow over all of Kindergarden and Jasper stared up in horror as the monstrous tidal wave grew by the moment.

" I know what you're really about! You don't care about anyone! You can't even care! And I'll make sure that none of us ever have to see you AGAIN!" The water began to lean forward and curl, preparing its devastating blow...but neither of them could have imagined what came next.

"You guys, stop it!" Steven suddenly jumped between the two of them and that was all they saw before the water fell forward.

"STEVEN!" The name tore from Lapis's throat too late as the tsunami crashed into the ground and rocks around them, and tossed both of them into the fray. Lapis and Jasper were both tossed around mercilessly, but the water hardly posed as a danger to them, unlike the child that was thrown about like a rag doll

Jasper's horrified eyes looked to the blue gem floating in the whirlpool with her. She looked around, her hair whipping with the motion. All she could see was blue, and debris. "Lapis, Lapis do something!" she begged, just trying to stay grounded long enough so she could look around, find him...

A dim glow rose from the teardrop on Lapis's back, shining in the dark waters as it suddenly flashed, and split the whirlpool in half, parting it down the middle. The water began to recede, washing the two up like fish into the muddy sand.

"Where's Steven?!" Lapis demanded, searching the area as it began to drain. "Where is he?!" There he was, his wet and motionless body sprawled out limply on a rock, as lifeless as a beached whale...

"STEVEN!" Jasper roared. They stumbled over the sticky mud and puddles to reach the child, falling to their knees and nearly to pieces when the reality of the situation struck. Jasper shook as she reached for him. "...Brat?" it was a weak whimper.

Lapis shook and shuddered, trying to keep from completely breaking down. The tears that fell from her face rose into the air with her gem's power. "Is he...?"

"I don't know!" Jasper snapped helplessly. "I-I don't know how to check on a human! H-he isn't breathing, isn't that what humans are supposed to do to survive?!" She checked his gem, lifting his sopping shirt. Somehow, the gem was in tact...but the boy's chest didn't rise. "W-we've gotta get him breathing!" Desperate, she started to shake him.

"That's not going to help anything!" Lapis yelled as she yanked the boy into her arms and kept his limp head cradled against her arm, pushing on his chest where she knew the human's lungs were. Gems didn't learn how to resuscitate someone—at least not the way you needed to do with a human.

"Then what IS?!" Jasper yelled back, her voice starting to crack. "WHAT DO WE DO?!"

"I DON'T KNOW!" Lapis screamed and broke down, the sobs overtaking her as she nearly collapsed over the child's body, words breaking and being swallowed up by grieving and frightened sobs. "I...I don't know." She pressed on his chest again, even gave him a shake, but the boy did not stir. No breath escaped his lips. Lapis and Jasper sat there, silent and numb. Their eyes were frozen, wide, their own limbs flat at their sides as if they had stopped functioning completely. Lapis placed a hand on the boy's still chest, nails digging in mournfully. "I...promised."

"You promised?" Jasper gave a hard, bitter laugh. "What about me? Some damn guardian I turned out to be." She snorted, jerking her head downward so her bangs fell over her face and shielded it from view. Her hunched shoulders began shaking.

"I'm sorry!" Lapis blurted through her sobbing. "This is all my fault! This all happened because of me! I... I'm sorry! I hated you, and every time Steven just mentioned you I felt so angry! I didn't understand what he meant when he said you were a prisoner...but then I realized that we all are." Her voice cracked and her mouth creased. "We never had a choice of who we even wanted to be. Our gem would dictate what class we were in. We were just a number, and just something that could be made out of mass production."

Jasper didn't raise her head, but she tilted her chin up slightly so Lapis could see the tear stained face through the white hair.

"If we died that would be it. No one to mourn us, no one to remember us...just replace us and clone us. I thought I would finally feel some sort of satisfaction by having someone under my control like I was always under everyone else's, but..." She sobbed. "I just felt more trapped and more alone. I was away from the only person that cared about me. Instead of feeling some sort of freedom it was just another prison sentence! And instead of trying to make amends for Steven's sake...I held onto my hate until..." She sharply inhaled. "It was too late."

"I made coming back to Homeworld hell for you, even if it was just what I was ordered to! And I-I never even apologized!" Jasper gave a shaky inhale, trying to keep her breathing even and steady so she wouldn't sob. "I never blamed you or had anything against you—I knew you weren't on earth by choice! I knew it wasn't your fault, and I still..." Her breathing finally came in a choppy inhale. She whimpered. "And now he's... I'm a bully, you're right! That's all I am, and a pawn and a mutant is all I'll ever be! I was just so sick of being Yellow Diamond's punching bag that...I made you into my own. I needed an outlet." She trembled. "But I never should have..."

Suddenly, the child's entire body jerked upward as he coughed up a stream of water into Lapis's face. Steven gasped for air and his limbs fluttered, as did his eyes. He coughed up even more water.

Jasper and Lapis just stared. "...Steven?" Jasper whispered.

"Oh...man," the child managed through gasps and coughs, his chin dripping. "I feel like I just inhaled a swimming pool."

"S-Steven!" Lapis gasped. Her tear stained face lifted up in shock and she almost dropped the boy. He was...alive! He was really alive! Her face crumpled and the sobs came in again, deep and heavy. "Oh...Steven!" She crushed him to her chest, bawling as she held him. "I'm—I'm so sorry!"

"For...what?" The child's voice came out muffled and confused in her dress, and he tried to look behind him. Seeing Jasper crying made him even more confused and frightened. "What's going on?!"

"Geez, kid!" Jasper's lip trembled impossibly as she smiled. She reached out to him, and her hand gently touched his curls. "You're..." She exhaled shakily, giving a wobbly smile. "You're a trooper. And you also scared the hell out of us."

"I thought you were dead," Lapis sobbed. "And I thought that it was because of us that you were." She stopped. "No...because of me."

"Because of us," Jasper corrected quietly, eyes sad. "This isn't all your fault. We were both trying to kill each other, and for what...? What would that accomplish? Except to probably crush this little shrimp's heart. "We've got so many enemies, so many people we have to worry about fighting. What's it gonna help if we just fight with each other too? Besides." She shrugged at the blue gem. "You're not the worst thing in the world."

Lapis found herself laughing. "Thanks. ...I guess you aren't either." The air felt lighter, and almost friendlier in a mutual understanding and agreement. Steven grinned.

"So I guess it's a good thing that I almost died! Because you two became friends!"

"Not even," Jasper snorted. Her eyes softened a little. "But...we could. How'd you even get here, anyway? Sneak away from Peridot?" The child sheepishly nodded and she laughed. "Boy...your ass is gonna be grass."

"YOU LITTLE CLOD!" came a sudden shriek from nearby. Steven yelped and bolted to his feet as he was pursued by a very angry caretaker. "How dare you sneak away from me! If you think you can try to pull a fast one on a genius such as myself then you better think twice!" The child ran through the soppy land and was just about to duck into one of the holes when he was suddenly showered with debris.

"Whoa!" Peridot dove forward and grabbed the child, helicoptering back to Jasper and Lapis. The Cluster had become even larger in size since they last had seen it, and had more limbs, and eyes, sprouting from everywhere. There were angry blinking eyes on its arms and legs and all over its chest and back. It was just an amalgamation of limbs and eyes.

"The thing's even bigger now!" Jasper yelled, backing up with her group. "Where's the gems?! We need more then us to take it down!"

"Or...maybe we just need to be bigger then it," Lapis said quietly. Jasper looked at her. "And stronger..." Jasper clued in, but fear and uncertainty crossed her face. Lapis smiled gently and held out her hand. "It'll be okay. I promise I'll let you go..."

It was like a fragment of memory in front of her eyes as Lapis held out her hand, but instead of animosity it had forgiveness. Gentleness. She felt something she never had before to the blue gem: trust. She gripped it and pulled Lapis to her, giving her a twirl and dipping her back. With a cyan flash their forms grew and towered high into the air, far above the Cluster.

"Alright, you want to rumble, monster?" Malachite hissed. "Well prepare yourself then!" The water flooding the ground rose once more. "Peridot, get Steven to safety! Now!" Hastily, the green gem summoned her copter once more and rose up into the air to the cliffs above them.

"Thirsty?" Malachite taunted as the water formed into a giant hand like it had so many months ago. "Have some water then!" The hand slammed down onto the creature and Lapis giggled. "It's important to stay hydrated after all." Jasper groaned.

"Really Lapis? You have to make a bunch of water jokes?" They increased the pressure on the monster until finally it exploded into smoke and dozens of compacted shards. Not even twenty seconds later, there was another explosion of rocks. Malachite balked at the sight of a towering multi-limbed purple gem.

"Malachite?" Sugilite barked in shock. The fusions were so surprised that they unfused and tumbled into the wet land.

"Where were you guys?" Jasper grunted as she rubbed her head. "We just had to defeat that stupid monster all by ourselves!"

"We were barricaded in!" Pearl exclaimed. "I'm not sure how but there was a huge rock collapse and we're lucky that we weren't crushed by it!" She stopped to survey the damage, and all of the water. "What...what happened here?"

Lapis and Jasper looked at each other. "It's a long story. With a sort of happy ending?" Lapis shrugged, and Peridot and Steven descended safely down to the ground.

Peridot growled and squeezed the squirming Steven close. "I'm taking this one back for punishment!" She blinked and looked at Garnet as she suddenly came up to her. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Peridot, summon your lasers." The green gem was confused but she did as she was told. Amethyst and Pearl gathered up the shards in their arms and laid them on the ground.

"What are you doing?" Steven cried, staring in horror at the lasers pointing to the shards.

"The right thing..." was all Garnet said and nodded to Peridot. Dumbfounded and concerned, the green gem powered her laser and a green stream jetted out from the barrel, engulfing the shards and slowly melting them all until they were ash, that Garnet painfully kicked into the wind.

* * *

(A/N: _Whoo, a lot went down here. And of course it isn't Steven Universe unless EVERYONE CRIIESSS. The next chapter is going to be a breather from all the angst, and is purely nothing but Jasper and Steven bonding. It's truly adorable and a much needed break, I think. It looks like Lapis and Jasper are off to a better start to a friendship. Yaaay.)_


	13. Chapter 13

"It's pretty simple to create your room actually," Pearl rambled on as the three gems stood in the middle of the empty void that was soon to be filled with whatever they desired, and probably tons of technical crap, curtsy of Peridot. "I don't know if you've done it before."

Peridot crossed her arms over her chest. "Of course we have. Where do you think we resided in our ships during the long journey to earth? Our way of building rooms is far more advanced and efficient then this. Why we'd hardly have to lift a finger."

Pearl growled. "Yes, I get it. Earth is stupid and primitive and Homeworld technology rules. Now can we move on? Because before you two even go about creating your doors we need to connect your gems to the main door so it'll recognize you."

Amethyst nodded and smirked. "Yeah, think of it as your official initiation to be a part of The Crystal Gems!"

"Do we get a party?" Jasper snickered. Pearl rolled her eyes.

"Well not from us, but Steven will probably plan something." Steven... The gems looked over to the boy's bedroom. He had been quiet and sad since they returned from Kindergarden three days ago. He hadn't taken well to Garnet's decision to terminate the shards at all. He was grounded for sneaking away, but even if he wasn't the gems were sure he wouldn't even try to leave the house.

"Well I'm working on my room right away," Peridot chirped, clapping her detached hands together. "I can't wait to get back to an environment I'm used to!" Jasper wanted to start working on her room too, but for some reason there was a nagging concern at the back of her head. For Steven. Damn, when did she start to like the brat?

"I'll work on mine in a bit." She stepped away from the pad and swung herself up the railing in one swing. Steven yelped as she landed heavily behind him and shook some things in the room. "Still sad?"

"I don't see why we had to destroy them..."

"Kid, it was the only way to ensure they'd never suffer again." She sighed. "Can't suffer if...you don't exist to even feel pain." She looked down and saw tears forming in the boy's eyes. "So grounded huh?" the orange gem asked, face in her hands. Steven nodded glumly.

"Yeah... But I guess I'm glad that Garnet sentenced me before Peridot got me alone." He shuddered. "She looked really mad..." Jasper guffawed and slapped the kid on the back.

"Oh trust me, she's about as threatening as a green kitten. It's me you'd have to worry about, not her. Whatever she'd do would be a kitten tap compared to what I would do if you crossed me. Probably a lot more physically painful too."

Steven's eyes widened at that and he shrunk down into her knees. "What would you do?" he asked, morbidly curious.

The large gem simply raised an eyebrow, a mysterious and slightly threatening glint to her eye. But the bubble of tension was popped as she poked him in the stomach. "Listen to me and you'll never have to find out." It was meant to be a gesture of emphasis, but the small child jerked upwards in surprise. Jasper frowned. Her immediate thought was that she had injured him, but half-human or not, she knew the boy was tougher then that! Unless he had acquired some injury she didn't know about...

Curious, Jasper jabbed at him again and he gave the same reaction, slapping at her fingers with his hands. Jasper looked at Steven, evidently confused at the way the Quartz child wriggled about and made high pitched squeaking noise. There was a little smile on his face. A smile wouldn't be present with pain, obviously. Fascinated, Jasper jabbed at the boy's stomach again. He let out another squeak and a titter.

"What are you doing?" she finally snapped, utterly perplexed. The child's reaction suggested the touch was uncomfortable in some way, but he was giggling as he bunched up. "What's so funny?" Her finger poked him again, in the tummy.

Steven laughed and covered his belly. "You're tickling me!" That just served to make her more confused and irritated.

"Tickling you? Is that some sort of weird earth term for harming you?" She jabbed a him more and he yelped.

"No! Tickling is...well, tickling. It makes you laugh, a lot. You lightly touch someone's skin with your fingers or something and it makes them giggle! A lot. Well it depends on how ticklish they are." He squeaked again as Jasper poked him in the ribs. "Eep!"

"So... something like this?" Jasper drawled as she stroke a finger up his side. She didn't expect it to be as effective as it was as the child bucked and squealed. Her eyes widened, intrigued at this reaction. So she did it to his other side and he shrieked.

Jasper rest her chin in her hand and opened her knees a little more so the boy fell into the hole of her lap and he was trapped. He blinked as he sunk in, eyes widening as a drop of sweat rolled down his face. "What are you doing?" Jasper poked at his stomach gently.

"I'm curious about this," she admitted. She reached down and started wiggling her fingers against the child's side. Steven shrieked with laughter and scrambled his little hands in the air to try and get away.

"Stop!" the boy laughed, pushing against her hands. Her fingers were so large that each individual one could cover large sections of his tummy. "Okay, okay, is your curiosity satisfied yet?" He shrieked as one of her fingers crawled up underneath his arm. "Nooo!" He started laughing even harder, but any attempt to get away was futile. She had him locked in.

Jasper seemed more curious but now she found herself rather amused. The kid was like a toy, making interesting sounds whenever he was squeezed somewhere. "So where all does this ticklishness affect?" Everywhere she jabbed at on the boy made him double over in her lap, giggling. It was easy to note that he had the strongest reaction when she tickled his belly.

"Stop, stop!" Steven managed out through his laughter. At this point he tried desperately to bury into her lap and that was even more amusing. Jasper started to smile. It got the annoying frown off the kid's face too so that was a plus.

"This is fun though." She tickled him from another angle, fingers attacking at his belly and sides. When they crept underneath the boy's shirt and touched his bare belly the kid lost it. "STOOOP!" he laughed, tears in his eyes. "Stop, I'm gonna pee!" His head fell over the side of her lap, hysterics building as her dastardly hands scribbled all over his skin. Jasper proved to be as utterly merciless during playtime as she was in combat. And she tickled him until Steven's face was beet red and he was gasping.

"Okay...please!" he squeaked. "I can't breathe!" In a desperate manuever, Steven reached out desperately and poked the large gem in the ribs. The effect was electric. Jasper yelped and scrambled back like a startled cat, on all fours with her back bristling. Her eyes were hilariously wide, like she was trying to distinguish what had even happened.

Steven was just as surprised, blinking wide as he looked down to where his hands were still raised and back at the startled Jasper. Then his eyes narrowed wickedly and a large smile spread across his face. Jasper didn't like it one bit.

"What are you staring at?!"

"You're ticklish!"

The gem growled. "I am not!" she snapped. "I don't even know what that means, how could I be?" Her fang bit her lip even as she said this, running through the thoughts in her mind as she tried to figure out the weird feeling when the kid touched her. It was a strange discomfort, but at the same time, it didn't hurt.

"You are!" he laughed and now he was closing in on her. It was humiliating, and hysterical but Jasper's eyes widened more with fright with every step the boy took. He was the size of a pea and she was terrified. She did the only thing she could think of and bolted. She lunged from the spot still on all fours and tore across his bedroom like a terrified cat.

Shelves were knocked over, cords were pulled out and his bedding was sent flying but Steven still laughed as he pursued the large gem. This was the funniest thing he had ever seen! Jasper scrambled, slipping on the tile floor and kicking up the rug into a crumpled mess as she tried to avoid him.

To the gems below it sounded like there was a herd of elephants above them and Pearl thought the ceiling was going to fall in at any moment. "You two!" she shouted up to the gems. "We just fixed up this house! Don't destroy it some more!"

Garnet put a hand on Pearl's arm. "Shhhh..." She smiled. "Listen to them. This is the first time I've heard Steven laugh in a while..."

"Get away from me!" Jasper yelled as the boy continued to give chase. "I'll shove you down those stairs! Don't think I won't do it!" She slammed into the wall and as she got up to run again her legs became tangled in the wires from the system. "What the-?!" The large gem wrestled with the cords, trying to free herself without ripping the wires. That's when Steven attacked.

"Steven bomb!" he shouted as he pounced on Jasper's back from behind. She tried to buck him off, kicking like a frenzied horse, but the child hung on. "Ouuu, I wonder how much I can get the big meanie to laugh!"

"This big meanie is going to bury you into the dirt!" Jasper threatened, but the threat died on her tongue when she felt the boy's fingers scribble against her sides. "Eek!" She actually squealed. The boy reached further under her so he could get to her belly and the large gem's squirming became desperate. "You little parasite, get OFF!" When she felt stubby fingers touch her stomach where her shirt had ridden up her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. At this point the poor gem started scratching desperately at the floor.

Steven switched the target area and his fingers crawled up further, and it was when they reached under her arms that she let out a girlish sounding shriek. "Yaiee!" It felt like she was being attacked by a hoard of fluffy caterpillars and the urge to laugh became nearly uncontrollable. "What are you doing?!"

Steven laughed maniacally and dug his hands further into the hollows of her armpits. "Mwahaha! Found the tickle spot!" She gave a final screech of protest before the laughter took her, and all was lost. Steven sought out his revenge for her earlier torture to him, and intended to be just as merciless as she was before. And he was. Struggles turned more to desperate flailing and trying to roll him off as the gem laughed until tears came to her eyes. Torture! That's what this was! They didn't have this on Homeworld but it felt like it could be quite a successful method, especially for their interrogations.

"Alright!" Jasper shouted out between laughing fits. "You got me laughing, what else do you want?!"

"Vengeance!"

Jasper struggled more to keep still and bear the assault instead of thrashing. She could get out of this easily, she knew she could, but it could risk injuring Steven and that was something she didn't want to do. ...Huh, what a new thought. She didn't want to hurt Steven. She didn't want to hurt any of them actually. So she tried a new tactic.

"I give! I give! You win!" It wasn't hard to fake her desperation. "Please—kid, I can't breathe!"

Steven laughed as he jumped off the woman, standing tall and triumphant. "Alright, alright, I'll be a nice Steven for now—hey, wait!" His eyes widened. "You don't need to br-"

"RAGH!" Jasper roared and the child screamed as he was ensnared in her hold. He laughed and fought with her, proving to be quite an opponent and putting his gem strength to the test. The two fought for power and to pin the other, laughing as they did. Jasper pinned the boy to the ground but he rolled out from under her and jumped on her as well. They rolled, they rough housed, and suddenly, the world shifted.

Tumbled onto her face, Jasper saw a patch of pink flesh and reached out to tickle it. But...were her arms always this pale? Suddenly, it felt like she wasn't alone. And it felt like...she was even bigger then usual.

"Whoa..." Steven breathed. "My bed looks so much smaller, and my hair...it feels so much heavier!" Arms reached back and felt it. A long bushel of black went down to his ankles. "What the-?!" He lifted his arm. It was his flesh color, but it was bigger, muscled, and had red stripes.

"Since when am I pink?!" Jasper yelped. Their body spun around, and that's when they realized it. "We're fused!" the fusion shouted. "Holy smokes!" Steven shouted. "Guys! Guys get up here!"

Steps thudded up the staircase. "What's going on—EEK!" Pearl screamed. She ducked behind Garnet. "Wh-what is that thing?!"

The fusion scowled. "How rude! We aren't a thing, we're...we!" They were large enough that they were pressed right up against the roof and cracking it in places as the ceiling creaked from their weight. "Check it out!"

The gems stared at the fusion. It was slightly larger then Jasper, with Stevens skin color and Jasper's red stripes. Black hair fell to its ankles, where it wore purple boots, and purple capris-like jeans. There were two layers to the clothing they wore; Jasper's v-neck, and underneath it, a very short pink t-shirt. It didn't quite cover the fusion's stomach, and the gem in the middle was a peach color. They had hazel eyes, and a jagged, peach colored stone in the middle of their face.

"Whoa, Steven..." Amethyst breathed. "Are you going through a growth spurt? Are you hitting that weird human thing where you start to go through a bunch of really gross changes?"

"It's us, stupid!" Jasper snapped, but Steven giggled. "How do we look together?"

The gems were at a loss of what to say. Peridot and Lapis especially. Garnet was grinning though, looking them over.

"I feel so complete!" the fusion shouted, checking out its gems. "This is the coolest thing! We're...together! We're...Agate!" They kept feeling themselves over, excited beyond belief. "I've never felt like this before," Jasper murmured in awe. She felt a pair of arms hug her. "I never knew fusion could feel like this..."

"That's 'cause you never fused with someone you care about!" Steven pointed out. He beamed, eyes sparkling. "This is what it means to be a fusion!"

"This is insanity!" Peridot shrieked. "How did this even happen? Is that what you were trying to do?" She was mind boggled at the sight of them. "Turn back right now!"

"I agree with Peridot, Agate," Pearl scowled. "This is quite remarkable and I'm glad you're enjoying this, but it's best if the two of you unfuse this instant. Besides, you're grounded for leaving the house Steven."

Agate smirked. "But...you grounded Steven, not Agate." Pearl continued to glare but Garnet felt a smile cross her lips.

"Hm...that is true." She smiled a little more at the hope in their eyes.

"Garnet, look at them!" Pearl whispered fiercely to the leader. "Look at how destructive they could be. We don't know how stable the two of them would be. This could be dangerous!"

"I agree." Garnet looked back over to Agate and smiled. Right now the fusion was picking things up with its hands and trying to jump on the bed. "But look how happy they are. And Pearl...Jasper has never been a part of a stable fusion. She's never been able to enjoy the feeling it gives you. Let's let her have this." She turned to Agate. "Agate, you may go have fun, but make sure you're back before Steven's bed time!"

The fusion let out a roar of happiness and hopped up in the air, landing hard and cracking the tiles. "Alright! PLAYTIME!" They picked Amethyst up, putting the tiny gem on their head.

"Playtime!" Amethyst echoed excitedly. "Hey, we should go surfing!"

"Surfing!" Agate shouted excitedly and thudded down the staircase, the steps so loud and heavy that it cracked several of the wooden steps. Agate broke open the door again for what was probably the tenth time in a row that week and bolted towards the water with Amethyst. At the last second, their feet skidded to a stop.

"W-wait!" Jasper stammered slightly, embarrassed and frustrated at the nervousness in her voice. "I... still don't like the water." Steven smiled.

"It's okay, Jasper. The water is really great when you're in it and it's not against your will. And surfing is like...flying, on the water! It's so much fun! C'mon, give it a chance!" The large fusion stayed planted to the ground, hesitance in golden eyes. "And we can drench Amethyst with water."

"I'm in." Agate poised and took a running leap into the air. They fell into the water with the force of a large boulder, shooting water high as the sun in the sky as they surfaced beside the startled purple gem. "Oh man! If only we figured this out for the cannonball contest!"

Amethyst waded over to the fusion once the rippling waves had slightly diminished. "Wow, you two seem pretty good together. Who knew you'd both make such a stable fusion? How's it feel Jasper?"

One of Agate's hands grazed over the pink tinted gem on their face, and then down to the gem on their belly. "I don't know how to explain it." The smile on their face grew, eyes sparkling. "I really don't."

"It's like two halves of a whole," Steven's voice perked, and for once the sentiment didn't elect a sound of disgust from Jasper. But it did from Amethyst.

"Yeah okay, enough with the sappy stuff. Let's ride the waves!" Amethyst cheered. With a purple flash of light she floated in the water as a purple surfboard with a black star design. "Climb up, Jasper-Kid!"

Agate stared at the surf board for a moment before hesitantly mounting. They crouched, gripping the edges of Amethyst as they unsteadily stood up on the board. "So what do we do here?" Jasper wondered. "Do we just kind of...paddle in the water?"

Amethyst laughed. "Naw dude, I'll show you how it's done." She suddenly struck forward like a speed boat and sliced through the water like a spear, disappearing from the shore and approaching crashing waves. Agate's eyes widened, but the excitement from both the gems inside spiked when they saw the rising water.

"This is such a new feeling to water!" Agate shouted as they shot through what seemed to be a cave of water. In another moment the sight of rising water used to rouse rage and fear deep inside the larger gem and just reminded her that she would never see freedom again and never see home. But in this moment...this was home.

The water crashed down like a crumbling, roaring wall, curling towards them; the salty spray touched their lips as they flew through the opening and stood tall, shouting out in excitement. "WHOO!" They were engulfed by the water as it flooded towards the shore and washed up the cheering and laughing gems.

"Now that's what I call wild!" Amethyst shouted, reforming back into a gem and letting her hands fall above her head into the wet sand.

Agate shot to their feet with a roar of excitement, jumping up and down in the sand like a giant kid. "That was the most fun I've had in years!" Jasper shouted. "What can we do next? I'm pumped! Let's do it! I..." Catching movement from someone approaching, Agate glanced up. "Dad!"

Greg froze there in the sand, brows furrowing in confusion. "Wha-?!"

"Dad!" Agate shouted and threw their several hundred pound body on the poor man in a bone crushing hug, the force of their weight so great it caused Greg to sink nearly a foot into the wet sand.

"Wh-what-?" Greg choked out as he stared down at the giant creature cuddling him. He saw the peach colored gem on their stomach. "Steven? Are you in there?" He gaped. "Whoa, what's going on?"

Immediately Agate climbed to their feet, scowling. "Steven! He's not my Dad, he's yours. He's just an old man to me."

"You aren't calling my Dad Old Man!" came Steven's growl.

Greg pulled his spine back into place and stumbled dizzily to his feet as he watched his son(?) argue with himself. Seeing his child turned into a giant gem creature that towered above him like a tree was way more normal then it should be in a middle aged, single father's life. "So the kid fused with the orange one, hm?"

"Yep." Amethyst crossed her arms. "Kinda jealous. I mean, I was hoping out of any of the gems that Steven fused with it'd be me first." She pouted but shrugged. Hard to stay mad when they looked so happy. "But they're having a blast. Whatcha doing here, Greg?"

"Just having some down shine between shifts. Actually, I got covered in diesel fluid from a dirty car I washed. Figured smelling like the sea was better."

"Dad-Man then." Agate crossed their arms. "Final offer. Fine."

"So what are you guys planning on doing then?" Greg asked. "You're gonna turn back, right?" Agate flipped their long black locks.

"After we have some fun!" They looked around, scanning the nearby town for even more things to do. "Fun, fun, fun!" They took off running into town, hopping and laughing like a large monster child.

* * *

Inside the fusion was warmer then the hottest summer day Jasper had spent on this planet by far. But the warmth was so much different then the rays of heat from the sun, and the warmth that filled her stretched through her core and through her heart. It was the type of warmth and happiness that Homeworld scorned and perceived as weak...but it was a type of warmth that she realized she needed.

The large orange gem stood on their plain of existence, which was more of an invisible ground that they levitated on, their surroundings filled with rose petals and a mingle of a sunset sky with different shades of pink and orange. Jasper turned to Steven and they both grinned at each other.

Steven stumbled over the pool of pink and orange, leaving ripples as his footsteps ran and jumped. He leaped into her arms and she twirled him, laughing.

"This is so amazing! This is the most powerful I've ever felt...with a kid, of all people!" The child in her arms hugged her neck tightly.

Jasper looked out through the sunset sky, to their surroundings around them. They could see the town, and the cars whizzing by. "What all can we do today?" She looked up as Steven crawled into her hair and poked his head up through the spiky white bangs.

"Hehe...I've always wanted to do this. Oh! Uhh...we can go get pizza or something! Or donuts! Or frybits! Or—whoa!" He was thrown off as the giant scoffed and threw back her hair.

"You serious?" She glared at him. "We're a giant being with the strength of a thousand gems and you want to do every day things like that kind of crap? No, I want some action baby! Action!"

Steven rubbed his head. "Oh...uh...well you know, there's like the park and stuff."

Jasper sneered. "Weak." Steven frowned and turned away. Jasper was too focused on what she saw in the distance to notice the vibrant lights around them had begun to dim and the warmth suddenly dipped to a lukewarm.

* * *

"Hey guys!" Agate shouted as they took off running through the streets, giving no thoughts to the cars that beeped angrily at them as they ran past the building and to a distant hill surrounded by a bunch of teenagers. They turned to the giant running to them and screamed. "Wait-wait!" Agate held up their arms. "We're not going to hurt you!"

The teenagers looked over the larger kid-creature. It definitely bared a strange resemblance to someone they knew.

"What are you guys doing?" Agate stood over the kids and stretched, trying to see behind them. They had box-like contraptions, large wheels and old steering wheels glued to the sides and inside. "Is that supposed to be some sort of weird earth vehicle?"

"We made go-karts!" Jenny squealed. "Well, something like it." She shrugged and suddenly looked less enthusiastic. "Well actually, not even close. But it's the best that we could get since my dumb Dad wouldn't let me borrow the spare engine in the garage!"

Buck nodded at one of the cars. "But we needed something to make this ride cool and intense, so we used a slanted hill. It'll make it fast."

Agate's eyes lit with an excited fire. "Intense you say? Mind if we—uh, I join?"

The teenagers looked at each other and shrugged. "Well you'd need some kind of made go-kart," Sour Cream said. "But it takes a while to make one so you probably can't participate in this race... But we're gonna have them every weekend until we can participate in the NATIONALS!"

Jenny rolled her eyes. "Sour Cream, there is no nationals for cardboard go-karts."

"Well we're going to MAKE ONE!"

Agate waved a hand dismissively, but notably, one pair of arms stayed stubbornly crossed. "Oh please, cardboard? That's weak! What about the ones that actually move and have engines? Like...that one?!" She pointed over at a parked car.

* * *

Steven's eyes widened from inside their fusion. He climbed to his feet. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking we're gonna have some fun, that's what!" Jasper grinned. "And give these tootie-fruity go-karters a run for their money!"

Steven balked. Was she insane?! "Jasper, no! This is CRAZY! You're gonna get us both killed! You can't just hijack someone's car!"

"Oh please," the woman scoffed. "I may not be a tech dork like Peridot but I have driven my fair share of ships over the centuries. I'm sure I can pilot a worthless machine like this!"

Steven's eyes narrowed and the sunset tinge became an ugly gray. It was so cold inside of Agate that he could see his own breath. He growled and leaped on her back. "No! You're gonna get us both hurt! There's a line between fun and really stupid and you're crossing that line!" Jasper struggled and growled. "If you don't like it you can take a back. Seat!"

She bucked Steven off her and he tumbled back onto the ground. He screwed his face up in hurt. "This isn't the way a fusion works, Jasper! We're not Mala-" Suddenly, the ground engulfed him and Jasper became fully lost in the fusion.

"Whoa there!" Jenny yelped as she watched Agate run down the hill to the car. "You can't just steal someone's car!" The tires screeched and rubber burned as the vehicle ripped up the hill and the teens took off running.

"WHOOOOO!" Agate roared as they pressed their large foot down on the gas, flooring it. They bumped over the grassy hill and started rearing it down the incline, getting faster by the moment. "WE'RE FLYINNNG!"

They realized the gravity of their error when they slammed into the first rock; metal screeched and twisted and Agate felt their legs be crushed up against the steering wheel. Thankfully, Jasper's strength could bear the hit. "Ah!" Agate slammed their foot down on the breaks but it was futile. They were going at record speed. Bump, bump. It started to get painful, even for them.

"How do we stop this thing?!" Agate shook the wheel, like they thought it would do something. Glowing brightly, the two split down the middle. Jasper fell back against the seat and Steven tumbled into the passenger's side. "Steven! Steven how do we stop this thing?!"

"We can't!" And they were rapidly approaching a cliff. "Jasper, punch it, punch it!"

The woman looked at the door and back at the child. Then she grabbed him and kicked through the metal. She dove out just as the car careened off the cliff and they suddenly found themselves encased in a rose bubble. Caging the boy, Jasper tucked her head and body in as they bounced off a rock that blocked them from flying off the cliff, and they instead rolled down another, smaller hill.

The bubble threw them out once they hit the bottom and the two rolled through the grass until they came to a stop. Jasper uncurled from around the boy and sat up. "Kid! Kid, are you okay?" Steven rubbed his head. "I think Amethyst was wrong. Maybe we aren't good for each other." He gave her a lopsided, adorable smile.

Jasper gave a slow, awkward laugh. "I think we got carried awa..." She paused at Steven's glare. "Okay fine! I got carried away..." She sighed and bit her lip. "I had never been a fusion before that...felt good. I just wanted to experience it for all it was, and see why Garnet chooses to be one all the time. I guess...ugh..." She hated to admit it. "I guess I just wanted to...have fun with you."

Stars appeared in the boy's eyes and he lurched himself into the startled woman's lap, cuddling her stomach. "I had fun with you too..."

Jasper allowed it for a moment before she knocked him out of her lap. "Alright, that's enough of this...cuddly crap."

* * *

"I'm _grounded?_ What the hell kind of crap is that?!" Jasper yelled, furious.

The group of gems stood there, glaring them down. Garnet shook her head. "No Steven is grounded. Er, re-grounded. But you aren't to leave the temple until further notice. We're already receiving calls of Mayor Dewey crying on the phone by the hour because of the damage you two caused!"

"I can't leave the temple?!" Jasper growled. "Well that's pretty much the same as grounded!" She felt her face heat up with indignity. How dare they treat her like a gemling!

"You're just lucky that we aren't forbidding you from watching Steven!" Pearl snapped. "Which we should! What were you thinking? You two are never fusing again!"

"At least not unsupervised," Garnet said. Amethyst was glaring too.

"You two went stunt driving and you didn't even invite me?"

"Amethyst!"

Jasper kicked the ground like a tantruming child, but she knew that these were Steven's guardians. Their word was law.

"You have a lot to learn about being a more responsible guardian," Pearl huffed. Jasper groaned.

"A guardian? I didn't sign on for that." She scowled as Steven climbed up onto her head.

"Sorry." Garnet had to smile. "I'm afraid it comes in the package with being a Crystal Gem. Now it's Steven's bed time."

"Yeah!" Steven pulled at the larger gem's face. "You have to put little Stevie to bed."

Jasper narrowed her eyes up at the boy. "Oh I'll put you to bed alright," she muttered and suddenly reached up and grabbed the boy by his legs. Steven screamed and wriggled around.

"Hey! Jasper! Put me down! I'm getting dizzyyyyy!" Steven yelped as the gem deposited him on his head on the soft mattress and threw the sheet over his head.

"Bed time, good night. I hope a monster comes out from under the bed and eats you." Steven stared at her and she shrugged. "What? Am I doing this whole parenting thing wrong?"

A chuckle turned them to the door. Peridot leaned against the door frame, smirking at the large gem and small child. "So I hear you two just about destroyed the town today."

"Nope, just a car. And maybe traumatized a few kids. Actually, we might have caused a few accidents too. Where were you, nerd?"

"The Lapis Lazuli helped me design my quarters today!" Peridot grinned. "You know, I was so worried about the Crystal Clods destroying all my stuff, but by the looks of it maybe it should be you I'm worried about. You certainly aren't touching my ship after that!"

Jasper rose to her feet, slowly. She was half crouched and Peridot knew that stance. She was about to attack. "Hey Peri... let me try something with you." She reached out to her and Peridot's eyes widened as she started to back up.

"Stay away from me Jasper!" She yelped as the gem grabbed her, and she struggled in the large, muscled arms. "Jasper, release me!" She kicked and struggled as Jasper started to poke around on her armor. "What are you doing?!"

"Looking for that special button you got." She pushed down on a button and suddenly, the armor disappeared around Peridot's midsection, revealing a thin green shirt. "There it is!" Peridot screeched and struggled. "I bet you're a ball of nerves under all that armor..."

"Preposterous! I've been through the same rigorous treatment that you have and it has toughened my skin! It's impervious to anything you might do to..." Her eyes suddenly widened as she felt fingers probe at her now prone stomach. "What are you doing?"

"Testing that theory." Jasper held Peridot in a tight lock, one arm around her neck, and the other just below her stomach, pressing her against her and stretching her slightly. Then where the other arm was by her stomach, she tickled. Peridot started giggling immediately. "Release me!" She struggled and kicked about, and Steven sighed as he shook his head and buried his face into the pillow.

* * *

 _(A/N: And there we have it, my favorite chapter. XD Er, one of them. I wanted Agate's fusion to form from something that made sense to Steven and Jasper's rowdy relationship and no form of dancing fit the bill. I could just see them...wrestling like big kids and then poof, giant kid-woman. The next chapter may be a while as I'm back in Animation, but the next chapter is going to focus on the couples of this fic. Who are they exactly? You've probably got a good idea of them. ...Or do you~?)_


	14. Chapter 14

"Jasper and Steven are becoming incredibly close," Pearl mused as she looked over at the couch cushions, where both had fallen asleep. Jasper's large body took up most of the couch but Steven could still perch comfortably on her belly. He slept on his stomach, rising up and down as Jasper breathed.

"They are," Garnet agreed. "It was inevitable. Steven saved their lives in more ways than one." She smiled and quirked her head. "And let's be real, it's Steven. It's impossible not to love that boy. He's the best thing for everyone and after all the pain we know Jasper and Peridot were forced to suffer, love is what they need most right now." The gems smiled at each other.

Jasper stretched out on the couch, cracking her toes and fingers. The movement stirred the sleepy boy reclining on her belly and he mumbled something about caterpillars and inched further up under the giant's neck. Peridot was draped over Jasper's knees like a skinny green scarf, hanging half way from the ground and the cushion.

"They're so adorable," Pearl giggled softly under her breath. "I don't think I could even bear to wake them up." She clasped her hands together endearingly with a croon. It was a picture of innocence. "Surely we can just save Steven's breakfast for later?"

Garnet smiled. "I suppose."

The comfortable trio probably would have stayed in their snuggle huddle all day were it not for the obnoxiously loud honking sound that suddenly boomed out of a smirking purple horn beside them. Jasper screamed and flailed in instinct, rolling violently to the side and tumbling off the couch, crushing both Peridot and Steven under her large stomach.

"Ohmygoodness!" Pearl babbled frantically as she yanked her baby out from under Jasper and cradled him. "Steven, are you hurt?!" The boy was half asleep and half aware, looking around the room with droopy, confused eyes. "Amethyst!" Pearl barked. "What were you thinking? You could have really hurt him! Do you know how much that brute weighs?"

"Hey, I was trying to wake him up! His play date with Connie starts in like a half hour! Wouldn't want him to sleep through it." The boy's eyes widened when he remembered, and he scrambled out of Pearl's arms frantically.

"Ughhhh...Jasper, get off me!" came a muffled sounding whine of pain from under the large gem. Peridot's free arm waved in distress. "You weigh a ton, you oaf!"

"Yeah and your bony body isn't any more comfortable to lie on!" Jasper snapped back as she pushed herself up so she was hovered over the smaller gem. Their glares faded to something more shy and sheepish when they were face to face, and nearly on top of one another. They froze, eyes locked silently. When a sudden burst of light from their gems lit the living room the two yelped and scrambled away from each other, covering their faces in mortification.

"Whoa..." Steven's starry eyes sparkled in curiosity even as Pearl dragged him up the stairs and back to his bedroom.

"You and Connie are going to get pizza later, right? Oh, you should wear that new little suit I bought for you the other day! Oh I'm sure Connie will simply adore it on you. You'll look cute as a button." Steven wasn't listening and only glanced over the railing. Jasper and Peridot were going about the morning as they usually would, but Steven easily noticed a darker tinge to their faces.

"Pearl, what was that?"

"What, Amethyst being obnoxious as always?"

"No! The...the light."

At that, the slim gem seemed to stop and her eyes widened. "Oh...ah...the light." She glanced down at Jasper and Peridot as well and looked thoughtful. "Well, it can mean many things, Steven. It's hard to say. It's somewhat of a gem culture thing. Gems can project our feelings and different emotions in certain patterns of light. For example, your gem glowed with extreme happiness when you ate your favorite cookie. It can do it in anger as well and acts like...a warning mechanism for predators."

Steven struggled to pull his head through the sleeve of his suit and stumbled around blindly. His voice was muffled. "Both of their gems flashed at the same time though. I've never seen that done before. Is it a new thing?"

Pearl watched the poor boy stumble around for a moment and giggled, guiding his head out of the sleeve. "Well...I suppose it could be The Glint."

Steven's head popped up from the collar. "The Glint?"

"It's an old, very ancient gesture among two gems. I don't know if it's even done anymore, especially since showing any general emotion on Homeworld was frowned upon and likely still is. The Glint is something that happens with two compatible individuals. It can either be a friendly compatibility or a romantic one. Basically when two gems care very deeply for the other their gems will glow." Steven's eyes got wider with the explanation.

"It's an unconscious thing," Pearl continued. "It means that gems can't usually control it if the feelings are strong enough. They can't contain the sheer happiness when they're so close. And when two gems touch a similar thing happens. It's used to measure the strength of a bond actually." Pearl smiled and a dreamy look overtook her. "The happiness you feel, the love...there's nothing like it."

Suddenly Steven yanked on her shirt collar, eyes even more starry and excited. "Me!" he squealed. "Do me! Do me! I wanna see how much you love me! Me! Me!"

Pearl laughed nervously. "What?" Suddenly Steven jumped up and grabbed her face, yanking it down to smush against his belly where he pulled his shirt up. Pearl's neck strained from the awkward position but she immediately felt a flood of warmth and joy that she had never before felt so strong. It radiated through Steven too as their gems tingled and they giggled. The twin lights were blinding and the feeling...was indescribable.

Steven clasped his fingers to his mouth excitedly. "You love me," he whispered. Pearl laughed and hugged him. "Of course. When did you ever doubt that?"

The boy was bouncing. "So-so-romance you say! The Glint usually happens when two gems are in love?!"

"Well that's one reason yes. It can happen for many reasons though." Everything else Pearl was saying fell on deaf ears as Steven's thoughts excitedly whirled. The gems glowing, the blushing, the powerful protectiveness they had with each other... "Oh man!" He leaped for joy. "This is the best thing ever!"

Clumsily slipping over his own feet as he struggled to get the little suit Pearl made for him on and run at the same time, the boy bolted to the stairs. He almost smacked right into his best friend. "Connie!"

"Hey Steven." She waved. "Are you ready to-"

"WE GOTTA GO, BYE GUYS!" Steven didn't give the girl a chance to finish her sentence or even step out the door as he grabbed her sleeve and yanked her out the door. He was so hyped up that he was bouncing on the spot and his eyes were starry.

Connie stared at the boy, her eyes having trouble following his excited movements. "Steven...did you have too much sugar cereal this morning? I thought you were banned from eating Crackle Happy Berries when you took a garbage can lid and tried to slide down the temple."

Steven shook his head. "It's not that, we gotta go to my Dad's right away!" Connie's face fell.

"Your Dad's? I thought we were getting pizza! My mom even made me wear this ridiculous frilly dress because of it." She pulled at the fluffy pink garments in disdain. "It's so long I have to keep holding it or I'll trip on it..."

"Connie you and I have a really important mission to do today." He squeezed his best friend's cheeks. "It's in the name of love..." The girl just stared at him from what she could, confused.

"Love?"

"Yeah!" Steven plastered his face to the glass on the window to look in at Peridot and Jasper. "Today we're Connie and Steven the Matchmakers!" he cheered.

* * *

"So let me get this straight," Greg began as he poured each child a glass of juice and dumped out a box of animal crackers. "You kids...think I'm some kind of love expert? Like cupid or something?" Greg grinned at the two sheepish kids.

"Welll..." Steven shrugged. "You've gotta be somewhat of a love expert since you got Mom to fall in love with you. I mean, Mom was a magical space rock lady! If anyone is the expert it's you here." Shoving cookies into his mouth, Steven inched over into his Dad's lap. He looked up at him with his crumb covered face. "Tell us your secrets!"

"Uhh..." Greg rubbed the back of his head with an awkward laugh. "I don't know what to tell you, I mean...I still don't know how your Mom fell for a guy like me. I'll never know how actually. Too bad this isn't something you could ask her."

Steven's face fell for a moment, but he shrugged. "Well how did you wow her? When you two fell in love how did it work? When you realized you liked her what was the kind of things you did to make her happy?"

Greg sat back in his chair and patted his child's tummy affectionately. "I guess it didn't take much to make her happy. Rose loved everything and everyone. She loved any place I took her. Everything about earth fascinated her and made her so excited." His eyes lit up as he spoke.

"What were her favorite places to be?" Connie asked, scooting so she was beside the man. He draped a free arm around her.

"Ahhhh...anywhere where there was life. Which is pretty much anywhere. I'd say her favorite place seemed to be the beach." He smiled. "Maybe that's why she chose to stay there with the gems. She was amazed by the amount of water and how many different living things could be inside it."

Connie blinked. "She didn't have water on her planet?"

"Well they did, but it wasn't as clean and calm as it is here she told me." Greg shrugged. "She didn't really want to go into detail." Steven nodded. Knowing what he did of Homeworld he couldn't blame her.

"Life just fascinated your mother, Steven. Any kind of life." He threaded his fingers through his son's hair. "I still remember the first time I saw her cry. We were walking along the beach, talking and laughing. Neither of us knew where we were going and that's when we heard it."

 _The crunch under his shoe made the man freeze. They were on the beach. It could be anything from a small rock to an abandoned shell, and all Greg could do was pray it was an abandoned shell and not something alive. He lifted his foot and his worst suspicions were confirmed._

 _"Oh..." Half the mucus from the snail stuck to his foot, while half was still in the grains of sand. He was hopeful that maybe Rose didn't realize, but that's when he saw the tears in her eyes. "Oh geez...Rose, I'm sorry."_

 _The large woman knelt down next to the crushed creature and gave a small sniffle. It was so heartbreaking it made Greg want to cry._

 _"Come on, don't do that!" he pleaded. "I didn't mean it, Rose! I didn't see it...I'm sorry." He watched her pick up the shattered remains. And then he watched a miracle happen. As she cried over the small creature, it began to glow. To Greg's utter amazement, he watched as the shards of shell mended together over the small ball of slime and became whole again._

 _"WHOA!"_

 _The happy snail poked its head out, antennae wiggling inquisitively. Rose giggled and nuzzled the thing to her face like it was a small puppy. She looked at the man that stared back at her like she had three heads. "What?"_

 _"How did you do that?!"_

 _"Oh, healing it?" She shrugged her shoulders and gave that giggle that Greg loved so much. "I guess that's a new thing I have to tell you too."_

Greg grinned. "After that, me and your mom walked more carefully from then on." He laughed. "Actually, she thought of this adorable idea of painting their shells so they'd be more noticeable on the beach! We even kept one together for a few weeks. Never got a chance to own 'a couple's dog', so we owned a couples' snail."

Steven clapped his hands. "Maybe when we get Jasper and Peridot together we can get them a dog too!" Conne laughed.

"You're getting really ahead of yourself Steven. First we need to get them to fall in love."

Steven nodded. "Got it. So beach walks then, and no snail murders." He looked back at his father. "What else?"

Greg laughed. "Well...kid, that was for your mom. She's a little different from Jasper and Peridot. I don't think either of them like earth very much. What do Peridot and Jasper like?"

"Uhhhh..." Steven tilted his head. "Weeelll...from what I've seen, Peridot likes video games and Jasper likes...punching things."

Greg stared at his son for a long moment. Then he put him down and hopped off the chair, rummaging through boxes in his garage. "See I'm kind of...clueless when it comes to that, but I've got some books that may help you." He handed a crumpled old magazine to his son. "This has a bunch of dating ideas. Rose was always a fan of surprise dates. Maybe you two can set one up." He winked at his son. "Just don't go crazy."

* * *

The dim living room was illuminated once Steven lit the wick of a candle and put it in one of the holders. He lit a few more and soon the dark living room was completely visible. Connie was just finishing tucking some flowers into a vase and set it on the table next to the couch.

"Okay, what all do we have here?" Steven looked over the list of 'How To Set The Mood'. "Hm, lighting check! Dinner, check!"

Connie slid 'dinner' out of a plastic bag. It was a few fish stuffed, fish shaped biscuits that Kofi had made special for the occasion. "Yeah, I'm not so sure about this dinner."

Steven shrugged. "Well the book says that fish based dinners are perfect for romance! And this is as fish based as it gets! We've got the flowers too, so we've got everything but the dessert!" He leafed through the book. "And there's an awesome recipe here for some...creme brulee!"

Connie looked over at the counter, where Steven had made some sort of caramel mixture in a bowl. "Oh is that what that is? Isn't that like super complicated to make though? Or really dangerous?"

"You're right on the really dangerous part!" Steven giggled. "You use a blow tooorch!"

Connie's eyes widened. "A blow torch?! Steven I'm not allowed to even go near matches, let alone a blow torch! And I don't think you'd be allowed to go near it either." Connie looked around. "And speaking of that, where is everyone anyways?"

"Kindergarden." He paused at the look on her face. "Not the kind you're used to. They're going to see if there's any clusters left. Come on, you don't have to do anything, just get the blow torch for me." He mixed up the ingredients in the bowl. "I don't know why, but there's one in the top of the closet with some gem stuff."

Connie sighed and checked the closet. There were strange things in there. Magic things, she assumed. There was something that looked like a giant pair of scissors, something like The Jaws Of Life. There were a few small statues and old relics and near the back, Connie found the blow torch. At least...it looked like a blow torch. Sort of. The canister was prism shaped and transparent and the nozzle had a sharp, unforgiving looking tip. Just touching this thing made her uneasy.

"Are...you sure it's a blow torch?"

"No," Steven admitted. "But it breathes fire. Me and Pearl and Amethyst and Garnet were on a gem mission once, and there were these super big rocks in the way. The gems said they were a special type of rock that only a certain substance could break through."

Connie's eyes widened as Steven aimed the thing over his bowl. "The fact that it was able to melt a giant-otherwise-impenetrable rock makes this even more of an awful idea. Steven, I really think we should go another route other then creme brulee."

"Relax," the boy said confidently. "I'm a gem, I know how to handle this stuff." He lowered the nozzle and a crackling sound was all they both heard as they were flung back into the fridge from the sheer force of the explosion.

"Whoa," the kids groaned and rubbed their heads. They didn't remember light from the candles being so bright.

"STEVEN!" Connie yelled, pointing a trembling finger over to where the counter was lit in the flames, and the large almost-purple embers were beginning to eat away at the cabinets rapidly.

"AUGH!" Steven screamed and shoved Connie away from the fridge as the frame began to burn. The fire started to spread quite rapidly through the kitchen, faster then a normal fire. "Water! Water, get water, Connie!"

The girl scrambled to her feet and made a break for a jug of water next to the counter, throwing it at the flames. They simmered slightly but then flared with a renewed dangerous vigor. They seemed to be stronger then regular flames. "Steven, we can't keep up with them! They're so fast!" The children screamed as a small explosion scattered more flames around them and Steven summoned his bubble.

"There's so much smoke!" Connie cried. "I-I can't see!" She backed up into Steven and they felt the bubble shift. Something lifted it up.

"Peridot!" Jasper yelled as she threw the children over the smoke to the green gem. Peridot caught the children and hovered above the danger, holding the bubble tight. "Take them, I'll handle the Sizzling Serpent! Lapis, now!"

From in the smoke the children saw blue wings and heard a rumbling sound. Rushing water. They clutched each other close and watched as a window suddenly burst open, Lapis's giant water hand rushing in. The fingers flexed and its watery palm slapped down on the spreading flames, killing them instantly. Ash and water and diminishing smoke was all that remained.

Steven and Connie were practically hyperventilating, taking in the sight before them. Jasper was attempting to wrangle The Sizzling Serpent, choking the out of control nozzle and finally smashing it to bits.

Peridot set down the children. "A Sizzling Serpent? I haven't seen one of those in...ages. They're so old." She glared at the kids. "But still so dangerous." The moment Steven popped his bubble Jasper's hand lunged forward and snapped him up by the back of his shirt.

Steven gasped as the large gem held him in her grip and dangled him by the shirt collar. She wasn't blindly screaming at him yet and for some reason that made him even more nervous. Her golden eyes were blazing with the rage he was used to seeing...but it was a different kind of anger. It was a lot like the kind of anger the gems showed if he did something stupid and dangerous. The large gem lifted him to meet her blazing, raging golden eyes. Steven's breath choked off in terror as his eyes widened and he stared at her. Without saying anything Jasper yanked up his shirt and held him firmly.

"What are you doing?" She scrutinized it for cracks but found nothing, so she yanked down his shirt. Then she jerked the boy up to her face. A hungry lion would probably be less threatening looking right now. From behind the large form both Peridot and Lapis were frowning disapprovingly. Lapis crossed her arms. Peridot's eyes narrowed from behind her visor.

"Quartz," Peridot began to hiss, but Jasper's hand suddenly sliced through the air like a knife and she held it in front of the others, silencing them. "I've got this," she said in a low, frightening tone. "Go try to make the house look like less of a disaster."

Peridot immediately did as she was told, but Lapis lingered for a moment, concerned. "Jasper..."she began.

"Leave, Lapis!" Jasper snapped. "I'll handle him." Wide, frightened eyes gazed over at the blue gem, silently pleading with her not to leave. He was terrified of what might happen to him and Connie, alone...with no witnesses. Steven felt helpless when she left him, all alone with Jasper. The door clicked and it was just him and a very angry gem. A very, very angry gem. Jasper's grip on his collar tightened.

"Um-"

"What the hell were you doing with a Sizzling Serpent?!" Jasper yelled as she gave him a shake.

"S-so that's what it's called?" the boy gulped.

"You didn't even KNOW?!"

"W-well I knew the gems used it before and that it melted rocks, but I didn't know its name..."

"You didn't even know what you were handling and you decided to use it anyway?! What the hell made you think that wielding that fiery WEAPON, in the HOUSE, no less was a good idea!?" She gave him an angry shake. "Geez kid, didn't your family teach you NOT to play with fire?!" The yelling was enough to already bring Steven near tears.

"I-I was just trying to do something," he croaked. "The house wasn't supposed to light on fire..."

"And what were you trying to do? Prove how stupid you were, because you got that done! Only skilled, highly trained gems handle flame guns and from what I've seen all you've ever handled is that weird earth.. _nerf_ gun!"

Steven's lip trembled with guilt and fear as he tried to avoid her eyes and tried not to cry. "I just...I just..."

"Did you think just because the crystal idiots weren't around that that meant you could play with fire? What do you think they'd say about that? " Suddenly she glared down at Connie too. "What would YOUR parents say?" The girl bit her lip and shrunk against the wall.

"Th...they wouldn't be happy." She shook her head. "But that's not what we were trying to-"

"You know if you pulled that kind of stunt back on our planet, doing something you were forbidden to do you might not live to see another day. They'd probably use the gem drill, or the spiked rod." The child in her grip paled and trembled. "This thing hurts when it's slammed into your face and chest, and your hands, and feet. Breaks your knuckles, ankles...breaks a few ribs." Steven started to whimper. "Yeah. Lucky for you, I'm not a mindless child beater."

Steven looked at her hopefully through tears. "You aren't?" Jasper suddenly adjusted her hold on the boy so he was tucked under one arm. Steven blinked, and then his stomach started to flutter again.

"No, I kind of have a feeling that the gems won't be too happy if I shatter some bones." Suddenly there was a sharp noise and an awful pain bloomed over Steven's backside. He cried out in shock. "But you've got another thought coming if you think you can double cross _me!"_

 _"Ow!"_ He yelped, and yelps quickly turned into crying and struggling.

"Wait!" Connie cried. She reached out desperately, trying to get the kicking and crying Steven as Jasper's hand kept swatting him. "Please—don't-! It-it was my idea!"

"Alright, alright, that's enough!" Lapis swooped down and pulled the boy out of the giant gem's arms. Steven bawled and curled into her chest, holding his backside. "Jasper, you aren't even giving him a chance to explain himself!"

"What's to explain? He admitted it, Lapis! The brat used a fire blaster! Give me one good reason why I shouldn't bust his hide right now!"

"Because I did it for you!" Steven suddenly wailed. Everyone quieted and Steven looked over at them with his red and blotchy face. Even Jasper's glare became very confused.

"What...?"

He sniffled and wiped his face on his sleeve. "I just wanted to create a really romantic evening for you and Peridot and make a really tasty and complicated dessert!"

Peridot and Jasper's faces darkened. "A-a date?" the green gem stammered. "You mean the arrangement where two..." She looked at Jasper. "...Compatible gems spend quality time together? That's what you were trying to do?"

"Yeah." He sniffled. Lapis wiped his face and gently set him down. The boy was too embarrassed to even look at Connie, but she touched his hand anyway. "It was gonna be a surprise when you guys came back. I...I didn't even know you were still here."

"The gems thought, since the clusters are far more hostile and...homicidal towards us, that it would be a good idea if we stay," Peridot said. She frowned lightly. "And it was a good thing we did." She bent down to Steven's level and lifted his chin with one of her digital fingers. "Steven even if you thought this was a good idea, do you really think Jasper and I would...be able to enjoy any of this if you and the Connie human had been hurt or killed? Surely there's a better way to...ah, 'set the mood'...then arson."

Jasper had been quiet through this whole thing and after a moment she started to gather some of the ashes and throw it into the sink. She brushed the charcoal off the dessert. "You want us to have a date so bad? Steven, Connie, you're grounded...to Steven's room." She pointed a finger. "Up you go."

The children looked at each other and grinned after a moment, understanding. "Okay!" They made their way to the stairs. Peridot and Lapis looked at the larger gem, but Jasper turned to Lapis. "Hey Water Princess, we can take the cleaning from here. There isn't much to do."

Lapis clued in and gave a knowing smirk. "Whatever you say. I was going to head to my room about now anyways." The door closed to her room and it was just Jasper and Peridot. Jasper walked nonchalantly over to the couch where their cold fish biscuits were and the candles were still lit.

"What are we doing?" Peridot frowned.

"The brats wanted us to have a date so bad... To tell you the truth, guess I don't mind it either." Jasper twirled one of her curls almost sheepishly, trying to avoid Peridot's stare. The green gem smiled.

"Sometimes it makes me sad that gems are unable to have children of their own without sacrificing themselves. A few minutes ago made me think that you could make an...exceptional mother."

Jasper snorted. "Yeah, one that shakes them until they get brain damage and beats their backsides? Besides...I hate kids. Except for those two anyway...most days." She picked up the fish biscuit. "What...is this thing anyways?"

"It's shaped like the Lapis's aquatic pets. We probably shouldn't let her see them."

"Earthlings have strange customs." Jasper reclined against the couch. "When did this become our life anyway? When did we just...become babysitters? Those brats give me more trouble then my soldiers ever did."

Peridot smiled. "Are you really complaining? This planet is odd...but it has given us something our former home never did."

Jasper nodded, eyes soft. "Acceptance... Sometimes I kind of wish I had a chance to talk to Rose again. If I did I'd have a lot of things to say. I'd apologize for thinking she was a traitor for leaving our cess pool of a planet. And apologize for trying to, you know...kill her entire family." She shrugged. "I guess most of all I'd thank her for Steven."

"So would I." Peridot smiled shyly. "And...you."

Jasper rose an eyebrow. "You've known me before we met Steven?"

"I did, but this time on earth made me realize how much I..." She hesitated. "How much you really mean to me." Her gem glowed, and Jasper's did too.

"...Ditto," she mumbled. They clinked the crumbling biscuit against each other's like a wine glass. "What's the thing Steven says? Oh yeah...bon appetite."

The two gems smiled at each other and their gems glowed, projecting a golden and a green heart.

* * *

 _(A/N: This took a much different turn then I was aiming. Originally this was going to be centered on multiple couples but then I found myself writing more of the build then anything, and I wanted to incorporate the Homeworldies as 'moms.' Feel like I got them down. XD I've officially figured out the ending of this fic, and all I've gotta say is buckle up for what I've prepared folks. Any emotional anguish you've experienced this far is going to feel like a cake walk compared to what I have stored. I'm my own Rebecca Sugar! *evil laugh* The next chapter starts the final arc before the ending. Look forward to it!)_


	15. Chapter 15

(A/N: _Get ready folks. This is by far the longest chapter yet, and for a good reason. Everything is about to change and we are officially near the final peak of the story. Shattered Realities has been a wild ride and it only has about five chapters left. I hope you all enjoy where it's going to go and I hope you're all prepared for the heart ache and suspense that awaits you!_

 _I have to give credit to one of my dear readers, "Komnenid", who suggested a plot that's going to lead to the suspenseful end of this story. Without them in fact this fic would have a very different ending. But now, shit gets real. So buckle up folks. It's time for this entire story to be flipped upside down._

* * *

"What do you think is going on down there?" Steven whispered as he perched against the railing, trying to see through the rungs without being spotted. "They look like they're...talking." Connie rolled her eyes.

"Anything besides that?"

Steven scrunched up his face and tried to push it through the rails. With a pop, he managed. "Hmmm..." He gave a small gasp when for the second time that night, he saw twin hearts rise from either of their gems, one gold, one green. "They did the heart thing again. But...what do you think it means?"

"Is it The Glint?"

"No...I think it's different then the Glint."

Jasper and Peridot both sat there, frozen. They stared at both of their respective hearts, and Jasper hastily smacked hers away. Peridot's face fell a little and she looked away.

Jasper winced. "Come on, don't be like that," she grunted at the green gem. Peridot kept her arms crossed over her chest so the orange gem scooted up next to her until their knees touched. Just the slight contact against her leg made Peridot's green face darken. She tried to pull away but found herself immobilized, even though no one was holding her down.

"I just...don't want to make anything awkward," Jasper said slowly. Although she was quite certain just starting this conversation was what made things awkward.

"Why should it be awkward?" Peridot mumbled. "We know the feelings are mutual."

"Yeah I-I guess." Now Jasper was fumbling for words. "But I don't want to make anything too...intense. This is—I'm bad at this. I don't know how this dating thing works." She avoided Peridot's gaze.

"From what I understand about the humans we seem to be doing it right." Peridot went over the surroundings. "Strange food, flowers and mood lighting. It even smells like fire and smoke from earlier. I think everything had been done right."

Jasper chuckled awkwardly. "Yeah...and I guess it's up to us to finish the rest of the night as...right as we can."

"Well that's going to be rather difficult, as I sense we're being spied on."

Jasper glanced up the stairs and smirked as Connie ducked away. Steven however was stuck with his head in between the rails. "Yeah, I can see that."

The trapped boy wriggled and squirmed as he heard footsteps behind him approaching up the stairs. Connie had hid behind the bed, but he was trapped hopelessly even as the shadow of the two gems fell on him.

"Your stealth needs some work." Peridot smiled. She rose her hand and suddenly one of her detachable fingers separated from the rest, hovering toward him. "So does your camouflaging ability." The floating finger embedded into his side and Steven shrieked with laughter as he tugged back more desperately, trying to arch away from another finger that assaulted his other side.

"It might help if you pick a hiding space where your big fat head won't get stuck in," Jasper snickered as she carefully helped the kid get free and passed Peridot's fingers back to her. "You can come out, Connie. I know you're just as much of a culprit here." Guilty eyes slowly peeked up from behind Steven's bed.

"What was that thing you did?" Steven asked as Jasper set him down on the bed. "The heart thing you both exchanged? Is that another gem thing?" Both of them flushed and Jasper growled. "That's none of your business, brat!"

"It is a gem's way of communicating emotions. In this case, affection," Peridot informed as Jasper's face grew darker. "It can happen with any relationship and it's a gem's way of saying 'I love you.'"

"Peridot, shut up!" Jasper snapped. She scowled at a starry eyed Steven. "Yeah, yeah, just...get into bed before I decide I _will_ tell the gems that you decided to play with a Sizzling Serpent." She grabbed Connie by the arm and tugged her out. "I have to take Gremlin number two over to your Dad's so he can take her home." She sighed. "Then I guess it's back to dream duty."

Steven felt bad that they had to cut their date off so soon. "I was thinking that maybe tonight you two could just...spend some time together? Yellow Diamond hasn't tried to contact me in a while and you two need to finish your date."

Jasper and Peridot looked at each other. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah! She hasn't come back since, so..who knows, maybe she knows you guys are protecting me and that's enough to scare her off." Jasper and Peridot chuckled.

"If you say so. We'll probably come back to check on you later anyway. We'll be on the roof if you need us," Peridot said. Jasper looked at her quizzically. "Apparently they have a spoon in their star constellations and even a lion, and I want to find it!"

* * *

 _All that was around the boy was stars and planets of all color but Steven knew enough to keep his guard up. Every time his dreams started happy, they ended awful. At this point Steven didn't even know what was a dream and what was reality. Or at least, the illusion of reality that happened in his dream._

 _He was in space. For now that was all he knew...but as he looked around it became more apparent that this wasn't some innocent star gazing spot (if he ever thought it was). Something hummed beside him. It was metal and huge. It towered to the size of the temple and Steven could barely make out what it was. It hummed like his fridge; a low, deadly hum that just grew steadily louder by the second. It looked like a satellite with a twenty foot long antennae sticking out vertically, but he knew better. It was a laser. A very large, very deadly...laser._

 _"Impressive, isn't it?" The child whirled around, and the moment he saw her slanted face something inside him snapped._

 _"YOU!" He lunged at the woman, the quartz on his belly humming with rage as he summoned his shield and hurled it like a disc, so hard that he could hear it whip through the air and it actually sounded painful when it impacted the side of Yellow Diamond's head._

 _She staggered and held her head with a wince, holding up one clawed hand in peace. "Hold on..."_

 _"I'M NOT LISTENING TO ANYTHING YOU SAY!" He was like a rabid animal, hurling his shield again and again, beating at her in rage, lunging at her, tearing at her clothes and even trying to bite at her._

 _Yellow Diamond dodged his attacks with ease and recalibrated herself evey time she was hit, chuckling. Finally she laughed and pulled the fierce little minx off her foot, dangling him by his collar to her face. He hissed and spit and pinwheeled his arms in rage. "My goodness, what a wild beast you are."_

 _"THIS WILD BEAST IS GOING TO SCRATCH OFF YOUR FACE!" His fingers curved like claws and lunged towards the woman's face but she simply held him away from her until the boy exhausted himself. "Are you done?" The child's eyes burned with hatred, but he said nothing as Yellow Diamond lowered him to the ground._

 _Steven was so tired his knees buckled until he fell to them, panting. He gazed up at the laser. "What is that thing?"_

 _"Magnificent isn't it? The finest, state of the art gem technology, powered by useless gem fragments, with a range of 75, 000 000 000 00 miles." She stopped. "In fact, I think there's even more miles." And she gave a gleeful giggle._

 _Steven sneered. "I don't care about your stupid laser thing, okay? And I don't care about you! So go show off to someone that does care." He started to get up and look for a way out of this nightmare, but the tyrant's next words froze his blood._

 _"You should care because...look where that laser is aiming."_

 _He trembled and his eyes slowly followed where the pointed barrel was looking at. It was small at this distance but Steven could still make it out by the mingle of blue and green on a small vulnerable sphere. "E...earth." Fear trickled down his spine but he refused to show it to the monster. "This is just a stupid nightmare! I'm not afraid, because that thing isn't real!"_

 _Yellow Diamond blinked, wide eyed, and then she started laughing hysterically. The child's face burned with rage and embarrassment. "What are you laughing at!?"_

 _"Y-yo-h-ho-hou!" she finally spluttered out, slapping her knees. "You're s-so cute and_ st-stupid!" _She recovered from her insane giggle fit after a moment, wiping tears from her eyes. "Ah child, are you so daft that you haven't even figured out your own gem abilities? Do you really think that you'd be able to talk to me if you were having one of your stupid human sleep apparitions? Look around you, Quartz. You're on Homeworld!" She grinned. "And you're about to watch the eradication of your pathetic species."_

 _Steven shook his head in denial. "No, you...you said you needed earth in tact to do...whatever crazy thing you were going to do! Why would you blow it up?"_

 _Yellow Diamond smiled. "Oh you misunderstand. See, this machine isn't going to blow up that hunk of rock. It's designed to specifically drain the energy from your puny planet and all of its life. It will wipe out your species, those traitourous gems and frivolous things we gems don't need, like your earth water and greenery. All we need is a vast landscape to build anew on and expand the Kindergarden." She waved her hand. "It's getting cramped here after all."_

 _Steven narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "If you had this thing the entire time then why didn't you bother using it if all you want is to take away life on earth and just keep conquering?"_

 _Yellow Diamond chuckled as she walked over to one of the holographic lifts that carried her up to the top. She gave a few orders to a couple of drones and immediately, the humming of the deadly weapon grew louder. "Well as I said, this is a new machine. We've been working on its completion for the last couple hundred years, and when I found out that your mother still lived on in you, I had a different agenda." She tapped the edge of the laser and then looked down at him. "I want to make you a new deal."_

 _Steven snarled in hate. "I'll never make a deal with you!"_

 _The gem smirked. "Hm, very well." She fell back nonchalantly against a hovering seat surrounding the floating panel of lights. She stretched and gave a bored yawn. "Fire."_

 _Steven shuddered as the metal screeched and echoed through Homeworld's atmosphere as the gears in the large machine twisted and cranked. The noises were horrific and no amount of clawing at his ears could drown them out. The humming became louder, like a swarm of millions of bees. The barrel of the gun began to glow, sucking in the energy it drained from the gem fragments._

 _"My shield can stop this!" Steven yelled over the sounds of the weapon. "It stopped your lasers once, it'll do it again!" Yellow Diamond only continued to smile._

 _"Oh, I know."_

 _Steven made a mad dash towards one of the lifts, trying to reach the same altitude where the laser was. There were so many discs in the air, hovering like individual steps of a floating staircase. Steven leaped towards one and continued jumping up the sky as the laser's power grew, each individual spiral of the barrel beginning to light up._

 _Just when the colossal blast tore from the barrel Steven dove in front of it, his gem glowing and the rose shield summoning larger then its size had ever been, making the child that stood behind it seem like an ant in comparison. The blast didn't even stand a chance as it hit the barrier like a wall, dying the moment it touched the power. Steven felt his entire body threaten to give out as he fell to his knees, panting. His entire body ached in fatigue._

 _Yellow Diamond jumped down from the control panel and landed on a lift that levitated right next to him. Her wicked smile couldn't have been any bigger if it tried. "The question is, how long can you stop it?"_

 _"As...as long...as it TAKES!" Steven snarled through his panting. He shoved himself to his feet and faced the barrel straight on._

 _"How much power do you think you have, little Quartz? All I have to do is keep shovelling gems into this machine, but I believe you have a limit on how much more times your frail little body can summon that shield."_

 _The machine began to hum again and Steven braced himself. This time the pain had a whole new level as the shield expanded in size to try and bear the power of the hot energy surging against it. The very effort caused every one of Steven's muscles to contort in agony and he screamed in pain, but he refused to back down._

 _"Keep your focus Quartz! You give up, you wake up, and your entire planet is destroyed. Don't you want to save your home?"_

 _It fired again and pain radiated from the very core of his being. He could feel his gem screaming, he could feel his_ mom _screaming... The shield was threatening to crack, and so was his gem._

 _"STOP!" he screamed. His exhausted body fell to the ground and tumbled off the lift, no energy left within him to even summon his bubble. He shut his eyes and waited to hit the ground, but something snapped him up by the collar before he could. His entire body was slack in defeat as he sobbed and didn't look up. "I...I'll talk."_

 _Yellow Diamond's lips turned up in satisfaction. "Good..."_

 _Steven didn't offer anything more then defeated and pained sobs, shuddering within her grasp. He refused to look up at her._

 _"I like you Quartz," Yellow Diamond said. "I admire you and your persistence. You're every bit as a strong fighter as your mother, and that's why I'm willing to spare you...and your entire planet." At last, the boy slowly raised his head._

 _"What?" he mumbled._

 _"Your planet is a dime a dozen really. I can find many more like it through out the galaxies, and it doesn't have to be earth in specific. I don't need your planet, so I don't have to destroy it. I just need a planet, many of them, and you are going to help me get them." Steven's eyes widened. "I'll spare earth. I won't ever make contact with it again. Your planet, your family, they will all be safe to live on their worthless lives...as long as you uphold your end of the deal. You stay with me, and I'll leave earth alone."_

 _Wide eyed, Steven looked back over at his planet in the distance, and back up to the laser._

 _"Remember, one push of that button and it's all gone. You can't keep up that shield much longer, and you can't stay in this stasis state forever. You go back home and it's over."_

 _His mind whirled as the fate of the world literally sat in his palm. He had the option to save earth right now. All of humanity, all of his family...at the price of never again seeing them. Everything he had and everything he loved would be gone. But when it came down to it...did earth really need him? Every life he knew could easily go on without him. Connie would still go to school and grow up. The gems would still be bubbling monsters; Sadie and Lars would still be working at The Big Donut and Beach City would still go on. Humanity would still live...it would just be without him._

 _Maybe this was for the best. Deep down he knew the gems and his Dad really just wanted Rose, but that was something that he could never give them, and every day that they saw him was just a reminder of that that they were all forced to live with. And he himself could never live a normal life. He wasn't a human...and he wasn't even a gem. So maybe, this was what his destiny was meant to be...the savior of earth._

 _"What do you say Quartz? ...Do we have a deal?"_

 _The boy shut his eyes. "Deal." He opened them again and they flared with hate. "But I have conditions... You are never, ever to talk about the Crystal Gems or earth. They're not your concern anymore and they won't be mine so you are never to mention them again! Ever! And the name is Steven! I am not my mom! A-and..." He swallowed. "I get a day to say good-bye."_

 _Yellow Diamond smirked and plopped him down on his feet. "I think those are fair conditions. We have a deal, Quartz." She reached down and placed a hand on his stomach, where his gem was. Steven froze in terror. "Wh...what are you doing?"_

 _"In our culture it's how we affirm deals, it signifies a promise between two gems. It means you won't break your word and I won't break mine." Steven looked up at her, trembling. Slowly, he placed a hand on her chest where her diamond was, and tried to bite back a whimper._

 _"Th...then I...I'll see you tomorrow." He choked back a sob. "I'll come at...midnight, o-our time. It's...the same time we're at right now. But I know the gems will try to go after me."_

 _"I've thought of that, don't worry. They won't be able to." She smirked. "Well then, farewell Steven. Until tomorrow. I look forward to the future we're going to build..."_

* * *

It didn't feel like things were real when Steven opened his eyes. It felt like last night was just a nightmare, but Steven knew that the terrors that happened last night were a reality and that there was nothing he could do about it. This was his very last day...on earth.

"C'mon you three! Stop being shy already!" Amethyst grunted from the living room. "We haven't got all day you know! Steven is gonna be awake any moment! He's gonna wanna see this."

"There are more angles on this thing then I'm used to," Peridot whined. Steven finally came down the stairs. What he saw should have filled him with such joy and on another day, he'd be bouncing. Right now, his heart hurt. Everything hurt...just to look at them.

Lapis, Jasper and Peridot all stood there, clearly having just regenerated. Their outfits had subtle differences, but Steven could see the main ones clear as day. Stars. Stars took the place of the diamonds that were usually on their uniforms, and even their hair style was slightly different. Jasper's hair was mostly the same other then a few distinct added angles to replicate the look of a star. Lapis's hair was shoulder length and wispy, but Peridot's mostly stayed the way it had been.

"You three rock those outfits," Garnet grinned. Amethyst just scoffed.

"Naaah...I think we wear 'em better."

Jasper was the first to turn to Steven, and everyone else's eyes followed, excited and overjoyed. "How do we look as Crystal Dorks Steven?"

"Gems!" Pearl hissed. Garnet chuckled. "They couldn't wait for you to wake up so you could see them. They wanted to look like part of the team for the Beach City Palooza."

"B-Beach City Palooza... He almost forgot about it and what they were supposed to be singing. His last song number with the gems. The last time he'd ever be on that stage, in front of those people. He forced a grin. "Yeah, I can't wait! A-are you guys excited?"

"To sing?" Jasper griped. "Oh yeah, I'm overjoyed. Can't imagine anything greater. At least I don't have to wear a dress."

"You can if you want," Lapis snickered and dodged a swipe from the larger woman's hand. "I bet you'd look dainty and adorable."

"Want me to throw you in the bathtub, water gremlin?"

"No fighting today gems," Garnet said, looking pointedly between Amethyst and Pearl and Jasper and Lapis. "This is a day Steven has really been looking forward to and we want to make it special for him."

"For Steven," the gems agreed.

It took everything Steven had not to burst out sobbing right then and there as he looked at his family. His amazing gem family that would give up the entire world for him. This is all he ever wanted, was to have them all as his family. They were all living together, he could see them all every day. He could surf with Lapis, play video games with Peridot, and wrestle with Jasper. His world was finally right where he wanted it...and he was about to lose it all.

"Guys, I just..." His form shuddered and he sucked it back. "I just want to tell you that I appreciate all of this so much. I know you don't really want to do it, but you're gonna do it for me. Everything you do is always for me and you're all just the greatest family that anyone could ask for." The gems could sense the emotions within him, but they knew that Steven was a child equally prone to tears of happiness and sadness.

"We love you Steven," Garnet said simply and the rest of the gems nodded. "Yeah!" Amethyst noogied him. "Knuckle head. Besides, I'm kinda looking forward to it. It's fun to sing when it's with you!" She lobbed him to Peridot like a football and the startled gem yelped as she caught him. She turned him upside down and swung him lightly by his feet.

"You have done a lot for us." Peridot turned him right side up after a moment and Steven found himself resting against her chest, just wanting to feel all of their arms and for them to never let him go. "I've never...sang before. It's unheard of in Homeworld, but we'll do it for you." Always for Steven.

* * *

He didn't even want to go to this thing. That was so funny since he was the one that planned it to begin with, but he didn't need a reminder of everyone that he loved that he'd never see again. He didn't want to say good-bye to Connie and his Dad without being able to even say good-bye. It wasn't fair. It just...wasn't...fair. And the worst part was trying to fake being happy when his heart was falling to pieces inside his chest.

"Steven!" The sound of his Dad's voice would have brought bursting excitement any other day. Right now, it was just pushing the dam of tears to break. "Buddy, hey!"

Still, Steven ran to his father and jumped into his arms like it was any other day, laughing as his Dad twirled him and tickled him with his his furry beard, rubbing it against his face.

"How's my little star? All excited for your big debut tonight Stu Ball? You're on in just a few more numbers. I know the town is looking forward to seeing you again." He gave his kid a bounce. "They always are."

"Y-yeah..." Steven averted his eyes. "I guess I'm kind of nervous though." Immediately, Greg held him up over his head and raised an eyebrow at him.

"You? Nervous? I didn't think you even knew the meaning of those words. Since when have you been afraid of performing?"

"I—well I'm not really afraid of performing, I'm just really afraid." He looked at the ground. "About...the future, I guess. Whenever I read comics and watch cartoons the good guys always win and the bad guys are always defeated. But...that's just fiction. What if reality isn't like that? What if the bad guys do win sometimes?"

Greg was caught off guard by this deep and completely irrelevant musing from his son. His paternal instinct told him something was really wrong just by the expression on his little boy's face, but he knew he was still waiting for an answer. "I...well I guess sometimes the bad guys do win kiddo, but in the end life gives you what you really deserve." He smoothed his boy's hair. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Suddenly he leaned in and wrapped his arms tightly around his Dad's neck, feeling his long hair tickling his face and smelling his cologne for what was probably the last time. "I love you Dad."

Greg nuzzled his baby close and ran his hands through the child's curls. "I love you too, kiddo." He hesitated, like he was about to ask something else, but decided against it at the last moment. "Go make me proud on stage." He paused and Steven felt him grin through his hair. "It looks like your favorite performer has arrived."

Steven opened his eyes and glanced over his father's shoulder to see her. Her hair was curled and bouncy, and she wore a flower headband. A dark blush her mother applied radiated off her dark cheeks. She wore a sparkling blue dress that fell to her ankles and Steven was sure that he had never seen her look so pretty before.

"Connie!" He turned and bolted to her. His best friend waved, but she didn't expect the way she was nearly bowled over by the force of his tight embrace, that nearly sent her hurtling to the ground. "Whoa, Steven!"

He hugged her tightly. She smelled like peaches and books. "You're so pretty!" He felt Connie freeze in the hug, but she returned it just as quickly, thankful her blush could hide the redness that erupted over her face. "And I'm so happy you're gonna be performing with us..."

"W...well..." Connie stammered and grinned. "I'm really happy that you guys decided to include me in this."

"Well yeah." Steven chuckled. He held her face in his hands. "You're important to the crystal gems too. We'd be nothing without you."

The girl's face heated with disbelief. "Steven that's not true." She laughed awkwardly. "The gems have been living without me all of their lives. I mean, it's only been a year that they've known me. S-sure I'm an ally to them, but their lives can go on without me."

He squeezed her hands. "But my life can't." At that Connie's eyes widened. "Every day when you come over...you bring the sun with you. It's almost like it's kind of rainy without you." He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I mean I guess I can still have fun on the days where you aren't able to come over, but it's never the same. Going to the Big Donut, sword training, reading books... It's just not the same thing without you there. And I'm not the same. I just...don't feel complete."

"I..." Words completely failed her. She wasn't even able to formulate a proper thank you. Words couldn't express her gratitude.

Steven felt like his chest was threatening to burst. He had never felt grief this way before. He was suffering the type of loss that a little boy should never have to feel...and yet, they were all right here. Everyone he loved was always gonna be right here, but he'd still never see them again. Somehow, it was worse then them all being gone. He looked into her eyes. They were on stage in just a few minutes. It was now or never.

"Dad always used to tell me stories about my Mom, but I never really got it until I met you." His hand curled into her small one, fingers entwining. "He said it was like finding the other part of his heart and...I found that in you. My name...it may be Steven Universe, but...my universe is you."

He leaned in and he barely touched his lips against hers. It was so soft and fleeting, but he hoped the touch could linger for a lifetime after he was gone and she had to live without him there. She'd find a way. You had to be crazy to not want to be with Connie.

The two children stood there even as the curtains started to pull back and the light fell on them. Neither spoke and neither had to as they just held hands.

"Hey, Steven, Connie," Sadie called to them quietly. "Get ready, you're all on." The children broke hands when shadows suddenly fell on them and they were crowded in a three way hug by Pearl.

"Oh you two look so adorable," the gem giggled, giving their shoulders a squeeze. "You look just like your mother and father did Steven. You should have seen them on stage." Her eyes misted over. "They were both so happy."

"Thanks for letting me be a part of this guys," Connie gushed and Pearl squeezed her tighter. "Oh of course our little knight! We couldn't be happier."

"And last but certainly not least, the performers you've all been waiting for! Steven, and The Crystal Gems!"

The curtains pulled back and Steven's hand reached out towards his family. He wasn't looking at them but he felt several palms; small, chubby, thin, giant and detached all press against his palm. The family separated and made their way to their assigned instruments. The spot light was on them and so was the small population of Beach City. Eyes, all adoring and eager stared up at him.

The Pizza family, his friends, the mayor, creepy little Onion... And at the front row, his beloved Dad with stars in his eyes. Before Amethyst could even strike her drum Steven held up his hands. The gems and city looked at him in confusion as he stepped forward with his microphone.

"Before we begin, I just want to say...thank you, Beach City." The citizens all looked at each other. "Each one of you are great and...so tolerant! I mean, you put up with your houses and your businesses and stuff getting wrecked by gem monsters. You even put up with random evacuations when there's evil invaders from another planet that come and try to destroy the earth!" The crowd gave nervous laughter.

"And I've only been here for eleven years, but you guys have made these years awesome! I've got a lot on my plate, and...I'm not a normal kid, but thanks to Beach City I get to act like it sometimes. I can go and get pizza, I can buy donuts, I can play with my friends and I can even waste all my quarters at an arcade! And I know the gems...they're all so thankful for you guys too."

He smiled back at his family. "B-because you got to show them...just how awesome humans are." His throat tightened and his air threatened to choke off the rest of his speech. "And I just want you to know... that the Crystal Gems will be here to protect you forever." _Even...if I'm no longer here._

His fingers reached down, and strummed softly against the chords of his ukelele.

 _"If you're evil and you're on the rise_

 _You can count on the eight of us bringing you down!_

 _'Cause we're good and evil never beats us!_

 _We'll win the fight and then go out for pizzas!"_

The rest joined in, each soloing their respective verses. _"We are the Crystal Gems!_

 _We'll always save the day!_

 _And if you think we can't_

 _We'll always find a way! That's why the people of this world believe in_

 _Garnet!_

 _Amethyst!_

 _Pearl and La-a-pis!_

 _Jasper!_

 _Peridot!_

 _And Connie!_

 _And Steven!"_

The crowd erupted into excited applause as their number went on, but for Steven it seemed time had stopped. All the joy and excitement around him didn't even touch his ears. He strummed his instrument but his spirit felt detached from his body, heart twisting until he was sure it was going to burst into shattered fragments inside his own chest. His eyes shut and the tears started to slowly make their way down his cheeks.

Jasper's arm looped around him. _"I will fight for the people that saved me_

 _To get revenge on the world that enslaved me!"_

Lapis's wings extended as she floated up, drawing an excited gasp from the crowd.

 _"I will fight for the child I know!_

 _To grant my fellow gems their freedom!"_

 _"I will fight because it is my duty!_

 _On earth I live, I thrive I salute thee!"_

And when Steven felt his friend's fingers curl in his own he was certain that nothing could possibly hurt more. _"I will fight fight because although I'm a human_

 _Together combined with my friends we can't be beat!"_

 _"The odds are against us_

 _It won't be easy but we're not going to do it alone!"_

Steven began to cry freely as they sang the last verse together, his voice warbling across the airwaves and drawing concerned looks from the crowd. But the music was so loud on stage that the gems weren't able to detect anything out of the ordinary.

 _"That's why the people of this world believe in!_

 _Garnet!_

 _Amethyst!_

 _Pearl and La-a-pis!_

 _Jasper!_

 _Peridot!_

 _And Connie!_

 _And STEVEN!"_

Beach City screamed and jumped to its feet in applause. Steven wiped his face and bowed collectively with his family, and awkwardly with their three new additions that didn't quite understand the movement. In fact the weight of Peridot's limb extensions caused her to fall forward and for the whole team to burst into laughter.

"Give it up for Steven and the Crystal Gems, everybody!" Mayor Dewey shouted to the small screaming and cheering crowd. "Here to protect and serve the human race forever, and even after that!"

Steven was still holding Connie's hand, but it didn't stop him from running and leaping into the arms of his family. The gems all tried to get their arms around him at the same time, which made for a very awkward and crowded embrace, but Steven still felt the love that radiated from it. There was still tears on the left side of his face and they caught the attention of two certain Homeworld gems. "Thanks guys, for doing this. It-it was really awesome and I still can't believe that you and Lapis and Peridot sang," he giggled to Jasper. He was far enough in the hug that he was protected from any of her playful attacks.

"Aren't they supposed to have refreshments or something?" Amethyst asked from inside the huddle. "I'm hungry."

Pearl scoffed as they pulled back. "You're not hungry. We don't get hungry. You just want to eat and eat so you can complain to me about a sore stomach all night."

"Sounds about right, yeah."

"My mouth is a little dry from singing," Garnet said. "I think some punch might hit the spot." She looked down at the two kids. "And there's cake for the children." The group all dispersed from the stage and Connie ran to her proud parents. Steven however was snatched behind the curtain before he even had a chance to step off the stage.

"Spill the beans Steven," Peridot ordered as she jabbed the confused, upside down Steven in his chest.

"Wha-?"

"We're not stupid." Jasper uprighted the boy and sat him in her palm. "What's going on? You started crying right in the middle of the performance. And I know you're an emotional cry baby, but come on." Steven tried to ignore her and squirm away, but it was no use. Jasper's grip was like iron and he knew she wasn't like the other gems. They might be more passive and let him talk on his own time, but not these two. After all, they were used to interrogating someone, having done it for thousands of years.

"You cried. We want to know why." Peridot said. "Let me rephrase, we demand it. What is wrong Steven?"

"Yeah." Jasper gave him a little shake. "This is supposed to be a happy night. I mean come on, you made me _sing_ and now you're going to be a sad sack? I didn't embarrass myself on stage for you to get all weepy for some reason!"

"So we want to know the reason!" Peridot crossed her arms. "And you're going to tell us."

"Guys," Steven began. "I just..." But he trailed off when under the fabric of his shirt began to glow, and suddenly, a pink holographic heart rose from his gem. It floated in front of his eyes, and suddenly, Steven just broke. He at last rasped out a wail and collapsed against Jasper's chest, sobbing violently.

Peridot and Jasper were absolutely taken aback by this sudden outburst. They exchanged concerned glances and gazed down at the bawling boy. Gems glowing, twin hearts suddenly rose from them both in response to the interaction, but neither tried to bat it away.

"Steven?" Jasper rumbled quietly, looking down at the broken child. "What's going on?"

He gave a deep inhale and started to sob anew, arms reaching and grasping at the orange gem as much as he could. "I-I'll te-tell you..." he sobbed out. "I pr-pr-promise..." He looked up at her with watery eyes. "J-just not tonight...okay?" he gulped. "Tonight I just—I just want to...be with you guys and spend time t-together t-the rest of the night." _For as long...as I'm able to. "_ O...okay?"

Peridot and Jasper were at a loss. "...Okay," they finally agreed and watched as their boy fell into another tearful fit. Steven inched up so he was practically pressed against Jasper's face and his hot tears drenched her cheeks. Her instinct was to pull him off, but something forlorn inside her told her not to...and to make time for this as much as she could... As much as they could...

The two gems looked at each other, a thumb rubbing the boy's curls.

...Before they never could again.

* * *

"What time is it Spinel?" Yellow Diamond snapped as she stood on the central warp pad, arms crossed over her chest in annoyance as her golden eyes targeted the horizon for any sign of the boy. "Earth time moves so damn slow. Surely it's...whatever the boy said it would be already, isn't it?"

"Um..." A small plump burgundy colored creature with a jagged spinel stone over where her left eye should be scanned through the watch she had programmed into her database. "It's hard to say, ma'm." She squeaked as Yellow Diamond glared down at her. "You see, earth has many different time zones in relation to their sun and their moon. It depends on the area we're in."

"Well what time zone is it that we're in then?!" the woman snapped. Her tiny assistant cowered.

"W-wait I think I've found it! Yes, it is...11:50 pm right now, in the evening."

"Well is that close to this 'midnight' that the Steven told us about?"

"Checking ma'm, and yes! It says midnight is a term referring to 12:00 am. Which is in ten minutes. 'Am' seems to mean...the morning."

Yellow Diamond stared. "The morning? But isn't that when the earth sun is up? How can that be in ten minutes? Does their moon really lower that fast? Isn't this the time when the human species is supposed to be recharging?"

"Apparently not, ma'm. My records say that the earth's sunrise isn't for another five hours and twenty six minutes. For this part of the planet anyway." The leader just blinked. "The time of day and their natural light source seems to depend on the side of the planet they're on."

Yellow Diamond shook her head. "This planet's logic infuriates me." She looked over when the warp pad blinked and smirked as a very silent, very miserable boy trudged over. "Ah Steven, you're even earlier then you said you'd be. Approximately five minutes earlier. Wonderful."

"Pearl taught me to be punctual," the boy mumbled, refusing to look at her. He instead looked over to Spinel, who gave a small, very timid salute.

"This is Spinel, the royal advisor. She'll be accompanying you Steven and serving you. Whatever you wish for is her command."

Spinel bowed. "It's a pleasure to serve you, your highness."

Steven stared up at Yellow Diamond. "Your highness?"

"Of course," Yellow Diamond chuckled as she gave a signal to Spinel. "You bore your mother's gem, after all, a member of the Diamond line of royalty. And as you are now my charge, that makes you an authority figure of Homeworld as well."

Steven only felt even more hollow. If he were declared king of the universe right now that wouldn't make him feel any better. In fact, knowing he'd be treated like royalty while the rest of Homeworld was forced to suffer and be tortured and trashed just made him feel even worse.

"Are you ready Spinel?"

"Ready, your majesty." Spinel suddenly moved to the edge of the warp pad and Steven watched as she pulled some sort of contraption out of her gem. It looked like some sort of weird electrical plug.

"What is that?"

"A device that ensures not only does the warp pad stop functioning, it stops existing," Yellow Diamond said. "It's programmed to wait until we've left and then it will melt away the entire transportation system, ensuring that it can never again be fixed, and that we can never be tracked."

Steven's heart clenched. "Oh."

The warp pad lit up and instead of mumbling a soft good-bye Steven chose not to even think of his home as the light flashed them away and the beeping device in the metal surface melted away any trace of the warp pad until there was nothing left but ash.


	16. Author's Note - Sorry guys, no chapter

Hey guys. Sorry, you must have been sooo excited to see the alerts in your email, but awww, it's just an author's note. ;-; But an important one...

So Shattered Realities is NOT cancelled or even on a hiatus. At least, it isn't supposed to be. Life has just gotten in the way. It's my next-to final year in animation and I had some illnesses that put me in and out of the hospital soooo. Plus my muse hasn't been as high as I'd like it right now. And to make things worse, the laptop that HAS the story is currently out of commission. However, these are all just minor setbacks and I promise that Shattered Realities will resume regular-ish scheduled updates once I can. I'm hoping, HOPING that next week I'll have a new chapter.

I've had a lot of messages here and on tumblr asking me when I was going to update. I'm flattered so many people like it. ^^ I've even made friends through this all. I feel like it's unfair to go this long and give you nothing, so. Here's a list of possible scenarios that may happen in the fic. Only **ONE** is real, and you as the readers need to try and guess which. I'm not going to tell anyone who messages me which is the true fact though! ;)

 _There will be a new fusion._

 _The Crystal Gems will earn a new member._

 _There is a very significant death._

 _Yellow Diamond falls in love with a toaster._

 _Jasper break dances._

Have fun figuring it out! Hope to see you all soon, and as always, much love and thanks for everything! 3


	17. Chapter 17

_(A/N: I am. So. Sorry. I'm sure most of you have forgotten about this story by now, but I haven't. I just...had so much to do. After getting better I had to catch up at school, and then there were finals. Animation finals. You don't know true pain until you're in them. When I DID want to write it was never...this fic. My muse for it kind of faded and I think that was partially nerves at messing up somehow since I have a big arc planned to end this off? Having no new material made it hard to summon the muse too. And then to top it off, I got a baby bunny. Her name is Frisk. (Undertale anyone?)_

 _Anyways, here is finally your next chapter. I hope you all enjoy. I hope you all forgive me. I hope, really hope, updates won't take this long in the future._

 _Merry Christmas my lovelies!)_

* * *

"Are you two going to sleep all day?" Pearl huffed, exasperated as she prepared...french toast? That was Steven's new thing anyway, with strawberries and gummy worms. Even with her limited knowledge of food she knew that this was not a healthy breakfast a boy needed, but her and Garnet had decided to allow it on Saturdays only.

"Chill out P," Amethyst chuckled as she garbled down a mouthful of gummy worms. "They're just discovering how awesome it is sleeping. The world just melts away. And Steven is a great snuggle buddy, I don't blame them."

"Yes but Steven shouldn't sleep all day either," Pearl sighed. Garnet nonchalantly summoned her gauntlets and banged them together. The sound earned twin yelps from up in the bedroom. "I saw it on tv once. They used pots, but I thought this would be more fun."

"Geez," Jasper growled as she rubbed her head and sat up. "I think I prefer the purple one's wake up calls." She looked down at her mate, who was snuggled comfortably in her arms, swaddled in a blanket. All that could be seen were two very annoyed green eyes. Peridot yanked the blanket back up over her face.

"I reject waking up and would much prefer to nest in your lap. It's comfy." She snuggled back in and whined when Jasper poked at her face.

"Yeah, I'd prefer that too, Nerd...but whatever Pearl is making down there does smell pretty good, and I know you like food." She grinned and kept poking at Peridot, who swatted at her and hissed. "Come on, admit it, you know you like food."

"That's debatable. I don't like what the Steven had to eat the other night, brussel sprouts. Repulsive green things." She shuddered. "Wouldn't you agree Steven?" Both gems gazed down to the lump under the covers, but it was unresponsive.

"Still asleep?" Jasper asked, amused. There was a lot of tempting things she wanted to do to wake him up, but the most fun one stood out since they had been Agate. "Wake up, brat. You don't get to sleep if we don't." Her fingers scribbled at the lump and she expected to hear muffled laughter, but...there wasn't even the slightest twitch. The lump was softer then it should be, and Jasper couldn't feel the warmth of the boy's body under the blankets.

Her ears were pounding with a sudden irrational seize of panic. Something was wrong. She yanked off the covers and found a mound of pillows in the place the boy should be. "What the hell?" Completely awake now, she sat up so abruptly that Peridot tumbled out of her lap. "What's the deal, kid? You hiding or something?" She gave a forced laugh, waiting, pleading for the little scamp to pop up somewhere in the blankets, giggling. But he didn't.

"What is this?" Peridot demanded, swiping a small parchment off the mattress. After a moment, she had to lift her visor to see if it was blurring the words. She wasn't seeing this right. She couldn't be. Jasper must have realized something was wrong because she snatched the note away and before she even managed past the first line the page fluttered from her hands.

"This..." Peridot felt hysteria building. She started to shake. "No, this is what the humans call a nightmare, right? Jasper? Jasper?" She stared up at her mate, but the orange gem stood frozen. "Jasper!"

"He's gone," Jasper mumbled, her voice almost strangely calm and quiet. Unlike Peridot, her expression hadn't even shifted.

"You three!" Pearl shouted from the kitchen. "Steven's breakfast is getting cold and Amethyst has already eaten both of yours." She glanced up as the two leaned over the railing, and was taken aback by the looks on their faces. Jasper was still in shock but Peridot was crying. "They're just pancakes, they aren't hard to make."

"He's gone," Jasper mumbled again, like a broken record.

"What-"

"HE'S GONE!" the large fusion suddenly screamed and squeezed the railings until it snapped under her hands, crumbling the wood to the floor below. The gems ran up the stairs. "Jasper, calm down," Garnet ordered. "Steven might have gotten up earlier." The note was suddenly shoved into her face.

"What is it Garnet?" Amethyst demanded as every gem watched their leader gradually pale. If she wasn't wearing her visor, they knew they'd be able to see the horror in her eyes. "Garnet!"

"He's gone..." Jasper mumbled, as Peridot stood there with tears in her eyes and mumbled the same thing with a hiccup. It was a mantra that carried through the entire room, but no one but the three gems knew what it meant. All they knew was that it was very, very bad.

"What do you mean he's gone?" Pearl snapped desperately. "Gone where? Where can he be?"

"Yellow Diamond has him."

You could have heard a pin drop to the tiles below the stairs. As it was, all that could be heard was the wind from the seas and any other sounds from the outdoors. It was deathly silent. "That's not possible," Pearl finally said, her voice meek. "It's...it's just not possible." She gave a weak, hysterical laugh. "Come on Garnet, you're joking, right?"

But there was no mirth on the leader's face. It was stony, cold, and full of fear. She clenched the letter in her hand, voice shaky. "We need to get to the warp pads." And before anyone else could react, the gem had bolted towards the one in the middle of the room. The other gems practically had to stumble to keep up with her, disappearing in a flash of light.

It was all as Garnet had feared. There was nothing. _Nothing._ Not even a shred of material left from the teleporters. There wasn't even a shard of glass. It was just as the letter had said; there was no way to reach them. Garnet reached into the dirt and picked up a black substance. It was sticky, and immediately she felt her hand sizzle. Hissing, she threw it back into the dirt.

"I know what that is," Peridot said numbly. "It isn't...used very often with the advancement Homeworld has made in technology, but sometimes, the substance is used to liquify gems for recycling. It...destroys minerals, such as us." She bit her lip as she looked at where the warp pad once stood. "A-and...most gem made creations."

Pearl began scouring the room for any trace of metals, on the ground, crawling around like a dog and barely realizing her skin was starting to smoke from the corrosive materials. "No—no, I refuse to believe it! There has to be something left from the warp pads! There—there just has to be!"

"P!" Amethyst barked as she barrelled over to the hysterical gem and lifted her off the ground, brushing the sludge off her. "You aren't going to do us any good if you barbeque yourself!"

Lapis picked up a diamond shaped plug from the earth and was careful not to touch the prongs. They were still covered in sludge. "I guess this is what Yellow Diamond used to do this. She was pretty thorough." She picked up a strange looking, ripped parchment of paper with a picture of a crying croissant on it.

"Okay, okay! This...this is just fine," Pearl babbled. "It's fine because Rose's Fountain is working again! All we need to do is bottle some tears and presto! The warp pads are back, we can go to Homeworld and save our baby-"

"Kick Yellow Diamond's butt," Amethyst eagerly cut in.

"-Yes that! And we can all live happily ever after, with our baby! Because we will save him! We..." Garnet shoved a finger against the gem's lips.

" _Pearl._ " She gripped the slimmer gem's face, taking off her visor so she could look straight into her eyes. "There is nothing to fix." She dropped her head. "Look around you. Nothing remains but ash, and..." Her voice caught. "Rose's tears...can't fix something that isn't even there."

No one said anything for a while, and Amethyst angrily slammed her foot into the dirt. "So what does this mean?!" she yelled furiously. "We're just not going to do anything?!"

"That's not what I'm saying!" Garnet snapped. "But whatever we do to find him it won't be this way! It's useless. There's no warp pad here. And...we don't have the material to build it."

"...To build it, we'd need to go to Homeworld," Peridot said numbly. "To complete the connection of the two worlds, or else, the warp pad would simply travel off into space." Peridot's mouth trembled. "We can't...build a warp pad to Homeworld when we can't GET TO HOMEWORLD!"

"But how did this even happen?!" Pearl cried, pacing back and forth and tearing at her hair in distress. "That boy was hardly out of our sights! And he had guardians at night for whenever that wretch tried to talk to him!" Suddenly, she froze and spun sharply to Jasper and Peridot. A fierce looking Garnet and Amethyst did as well.

Peridot froze under the accusing stares of the angry guardians, but behind her, Jasper didn't even blink. The larger gem just stood there, staring blankly like a statue. She was in shock.

"H...he had been doing alright!" Peridot cried meekly, backing up as Pearl advanced slowly. "He was sleeping fine and he told us that he was and...we could leave...for a few hours!" She started to tremble as their expressions grew wide with fury. "We came right back!" she protested. "Jasper and I...we just wanted to look at...the stars."

"The STARS?" Pearl roared. "Didn't you see them enough on Homeworld, living in SPACE?!"

"Steven said he'd be fine!" Peridot pleaded.

"WE TRUSTED YOU!" Pearl roared. "We entrusted guardianship to YOU BOTH! It was your duty! You told us you'd protect him! YOU PROMISED!"

Peridot looked desperately towards Garnet, as the leader was normally the person that stood up for them in these situations and the one who understood. But her heart fell...when she saw the expression on the leader's face was just as cold and disappointed.

"Pearl is right, Peridot," Garnet said coldly. "We trusted you, and perhaps our trust was misguided." She shook her head. "Part of being a Crystal Gem is protecting Steven. ...Maybe you aren't ready to be one." It was then that Jasper finally gave a quiet, quick inhale.

"This is all your fault!" Pearl was in a fit of grief fuelled rage. "We never should have taken you both in!"

Her fault. It hit Jasper like a splash of cold water. Pearl regretted her words the moment she said them, but she knew it. They knew it. It was their fault... No... It was _her_ fault. She had taken on the task of taking care of Steven, of protecting him from Yellow Diamond...and she had failed. It was her duty to take care of this child...and because of her...they had lost him.

Her entire demeanour shifted and her bristled back fell into a hunch. Her bangs fell over her face and she became utterly silent, like she had stopped functioning completely.

Garnet could sense the heat mounting. "Gems-" She was cut off as a sudden blast of green energy shot towards Pearl and Amethyst as Peridot stood protectively in front of her mate, arched back like a snarling wolf. "How dare you accuse my mate, you CLOD! You're his guardians as well—you're as guilty as WE ARE!"

Another blast tore from her cannon, blasting the wall behind them into smoke and debris. Amethyst countered the green gem with a snarl, spinning in a ball and shooting towards the green gem as Pearl charged with her spear. The rustle was broke up abruptly as Garnet's arms shifted, becoming large, fierce fists that grabbed all three of the gems as she jerked them to her face and roared at them.

"THAT IS ENOUGH!" She gave the three gems a shake. Three pairs of terrified eyes stared up at the furious leader, dead silent. Pearl and Amethyst both knew that when Garnet reached this level of anger _you keep your mouth shut._

"We aren't going to get ANYWHERE fighting like this!" Garnet shouted in their faces. "Steven kept us united, and even if he's not with us right now I REFUSE to let us fall apart! Anymore fighting from ANY of you and you have to answer to me." Her expression darkened, eyes narrowed and flaring. "That won't be pretty for any of you."

She dropped them, and neither gem dared to have the nerve to speak against her. "We need to look at our options here and figure out what they are. Obviously, the warp pad is out. Unfortunately...that was our best option." And there weren't many others.

"What about a vessel?" Peridot asked quietly. "We can fly to space."

"That takes too long!" Pearl protested. "Especially with the speed that pathetic little ship you fixed goes." Peridot shot her a glare, but she knew Pearl was right.

"Do you have any better options?" Peridot snapped. "I might be able to make a few adjustments to get the speed up, but without half of my technology that BLEW UP, it..." She sighed. "It's going to be difficult. At most, I might be able to reduce the flight period to a week."

"A week!" Pearl wailed. "That's much too long! Steven will be dead by then!"

"I don't think so." All eyes turned to Garnet. "Judging by...this letter, and what Steven told us about Yellow Diamond's 'deals', she isn't interested in killing him. She needs him for something. She wants him. For what, we've yet to find out. I'm afraid to say...that Peridot is right. The ship is our only option, and waiting is all we can do."

"You don't understand what Yellow Diamond is capable of," Lapis said numbly. She was quiet through most of this, sifting through the sludge and dirt like Pearl had been. "She might not kill him, but she can hurt him. She can corrupt him, in a very short time. With no one else to turn to, Steven's will won't remain strong very long against her. He's alone now, he's given up everything to protect the planet. She can get in his head...just as easily as she did to us."

They were all quiet. "...Steven is strong," Garnet finally said, her voice shaky. "He can hold his own against her." She tucked the letter into her pocket and the gems started back to the main warp pad. Jasper, however, still didn't move.

"...Jasper?" Peridot said softly, coming up next to her mate. "Jasper, they didn't mean..." Without raising her head, Jasper pushed the green gem away from her and continued on towards the main warp.

 _Dear Family,_

 _I'm sorry this doesn't make any sense and I'm sorry it can't be any clearer, but...I gotta go. I wish I had more time to explain...and I wish I had more time to tell you all how much I love you, but I ran out of paper trying to figure out what to say, and my ink is about to go dry..._

 _You all told me that the most important thing about being a Crystal Gem was protecting the world, and that's what we stood for. That's what Mom stood for. I've struggled for a real long time to figure out what I want to be and what she'd want me to be, and if I really want to be the hero that everybody needs...I can't do it here._

 _To save earth I have to leave. Yellow Diamond came for me and I realized after nights of trying to fight her off that the only way to save our planet is to go with her. She promised me she wouldn't hurt earth, and going with her is the only way to make sure I won't lose everyone I love. But I guess..in a sense I am losing everyone I love, forever. I'll never see you all again, but maybe it's for the best. Everyone expected me to be my mom, and...this is the closest I can get to being how great she was._

 _Please don't try to come back for me. I've made my decision and Yellow Diamond said you won't be able to anyway. Please don't cry. Please don't forget how much I love you all. I never had a mom, but I had a family. And Connie was part of it. Tell Connie that I wouldn't be as brave as I am if it wasn't for her._

 _I'm sorry..._

 _Love, for the final time, Steven Universe..._

* * *

A blinding light filled his vision once Steven finally felt his feet placed on solid ground. The air smelled different. He couldn't detect the distant scent of salt like he could at home. Everything smelled...coppery. All he smelled was oil, and metal. He didn't even want to open his eyes.

"Welcome to Homeworld, Quar—Steven," Yellow Diamond said merrily, stepping off the warp pad with a little twirl. "My, what a pleasure it is finally introducing you to your real home!"

Steven felt his heart spark with rage but he clenched his fists. He had promised diplomacy after all. They both had. _This will never be home to me._ "There's...a lot of techy stuff here." The boy looked up. Coded doors, floating panels, floating keyboards, floating computers. Geez, did everything here float? Did the gems float? "Don't you guys do anything normally?"

"Normally?" Yellow Diamond cackled. "You mean like the humans do? Well I suppose we could, but it wastes time. Valuable time that can be used planning, conquering, improving..." She waved a hand. "And all of that. Come with me."

The boy stiffly followed behind and Spinel did as well. Steven glanced back at the small gem and she flashed him a friendly smile. He didn't have it in him to flash one back right now. "What do you want?" the boy asked tiredly. He just wanted to sleep. Was there...even any place to sleep here? Probably not. Gems didn't need to sleep.

"I want to show you your new kingdom. _Our_ new kingdom."

The boy's baggy eyes looked hollowly out at the society around them. It was just as his dreams had been. The planet crawled with gems, of all types and all colors. Domes, from the smallest size to sky scrappers (or more so star scrappers) stretched to the skies above. Ships and shuttles flew through the planet's atmosphere, a used transportation like the discs he had seen before. They reminded him of floating elevators made of glass.

He could see the smoke from the factories of the gem refineries but he refused to look at them. Steven didn't want to look at any of it. He just wanted to sleep. Maybe he'd be able to dream of home...

* * *

"I can't believe it," Greg croaked. The letter had grown soggy in his hands and was starting to fall apart. His tears were ripping the edges of the paper. Gently, Garnet pulled it from his hands before it could be completely destroyed.

"Greg," Garnet said quietly. "We know this seems bad-"

"I TRUSTED YOU!"

The gems flinched. They expected that, but it didn't mean that it didn't hurt any less. Their eyes lowered, averted to the soggy paper in Garnet's hands.

" _WE_ TRUSTED YOU!" Greg exploded through his tears. "Rose and I!" That was enough to make Pearl start crying and Amethyst to bite her lip and turn away. "You said you could do it! You said you could protect him, and now..." He breathed in a hiccup. "He's thousands of miles from home, in space, with an evil alien overlord that can do anything to him!"

"She's not interested in hurting him," Peridot cut in. "If she was she wouldn't have tried to make a deal with him—twice. She doesn't want to kill him, and..." Her fists clenched in frustration. "I suppose right now that is how will have to make peace until we find him. If we can just...rest in the assurance that he'll be safe for now."

"Rest in the assurance..." Greg gave a choked laugh. "How am I supposed to feel REASSURED when my little boy is gone? I'm getting him back."

"Greg," Garnet sighed. "We know you're upset... We know you're...angry," she said difficultly. "But be realistic here. You can't come with us-"

"Yes I can, and I'm gonna!"

"Greg!" Garnet struggled not to snap in frustration. This had been a stressful night for all of them, but she needed to remember this was the child's biological father...This was painful on him too. "Greg you have to think," Garnet said softly, staring the tearful man right in the eyes. "You're a human, and you have no fighting abilities whatsoever. You can't just bring a bat to space and expect to be able to hold your own against millions of trained soldiers and Yellow Diamond herself. You'll be killed."

The man felt his determined glare withering into a look of pain and hopelessness. The tears continued to pour. "But I'm...his Dad."

"We know." Pearl wiped her eyes. "But you'll be of little help to getting him back. In fact, if anything, you'll put him in more danger."

"The Pearl is right," Peridot agreed. "It would be a suicide mission. Yellow Diamond has been known to eradicate any attempting migrating species besides gems. Once I saw the ship of a Marmgode crash into the planet." She lowered her head shamefully. "In fact, I was in charge of coaxing them into Yellow Diamond's quarters and making them believe that we would help them. They were captured and sent to the labs for testing. Yellow Diamond likes to pick apart other species to better study their weaknesses for invading. My point is, you'd be captured immediately and sent to dissection. I don't think Steven wants pieces of flesh for a father."

Greg looked like he could throw up and weakly sat down on the edge of the couch.

"I know it's hard," Pearl said quietly. "But...Peridot is right." She bent down next to Greg and gave him an awkward pat on the arm. It was difficult to be affectionate in any form towards Greg. "Someone needs to be here to keep Connie calm too." She sighed. "I know she'll be just as frantic about this whole thing."

"Here." Peridot summoned up one of her screen, digital fingers drawing over the floating image as she pulled a micro-sized audio unit from her gadgets and stuck it inside Greg's ear. "We'll be able to keep in contact with you while we're on the ship." She chewed on her lip. "Although I have no idea if we'll be able to once we're in Homeworld. For now, this is the best we can do."

Greg wiped the tears in his eyes. "Keep me updated, talk to me every minute of the day. Just...bring him back safe."

It was difficult for the gems themselves not to cry as they nodded thickly to the request. "Pearl, we better start to work right away," Peridot said in a shaky voice. "We need to make sure the ship is strong enough to make it to space." The two gems made their way out to the barn, where they had landed the ship before, and left the other three gems to comfort the distraught father.

Behind a door, marked with an orange gem, Jasper hadn't left the room since they had been back.

* * *

Steven stepped onto a disc marked into the floor in a long hallway of the fortress they were in. He staggered in surprise as it lifted immediately under his feet and nearly caused him to tumble off.

"W-watch your step, your highness!" Spinel cautioned behind him, on a lift of her own. Obviously she had more balance with her experience of them. "When you first step on one, it can be tricky at first. B-but her majesty entrusted me to teach you the ways of our world—and that starts with just getting around the castle." She giggled nervously.

Steven stumbled off the lift at the end of the hallway, in front of a large door. It was pink...designed with roses, and covered with vines.

"That's your mother's door," Spinel told him. "It hasn't been accessed since...well, she left. I never did get a chance to meet Lady Rose, but...I'm real glad I have a chance to meet you, your highness!"

"Please," Steven mumbled, his sadness growing as he stared at the large magenta door. "Call me Steven. I'm not royalty and I will never be. And I don't want to be."

Spinel blinked at the boy and looked around warily. "I don't...um...I-I don't know if I'm allowed to do that, y-your highness... It's customary that I refer to you, as you are a charge of Yellow Diamond, your highness. She's the Monarch...the Queen, if you will, and...um...I suppose that would make you the prince."

Steven felt revolted. "Prince... Her charge..." He was hers now and there was nothing he could do about it. "Well, she's not around right now, so call me Steven."

"Steven...okay." Spinel smiled and Steven forced a slight one for her benefit. "So this is Mom's room?"

"Yes, and...it should be as it was left. It'll shape itself to whatever you like when you give it the command. I hope you can make it to your liking." She rocked back and forth on her feet. "There's a button outside of the door. Press it if you need me, f-for anything!" Spinel stepped back. "I'll leave you be for now. From what Yellow Diamond told me, the species, human, that you are a hybrid of...need some sort of recharging?"

"Yeah." Steven rubbed his eyes. "Sleep." Though he doubted that he'd be able to, ever again. "Thanks for...showing me stuff."

"Of course, your high—Steven!" Spinel beamed. "There's plenty more to show you tomorrow and a lot that her majesty has on her agenda, but for now I'll leave you be. Um, ring if you need anything!" She hopped back up onto the transportation disc and Steven watched as she slowly disappeared from sight.

The boy looked up at the door. It bore such a strong resemblance to his Mom's room. He placed a hand gently on the gem and watched as the vines pulled away and disintegrated into the air. The door opened. There were simply clouds.

Steven felt his heart beginning to crumble anew. He barely had the emotional strength to make it into the room. "Room," he croaked. "I want to see my family."

Holographic images of the gems, his father, and Connie appeared, all smiling, all with loving faces. Steven almost didn't care if they were real or not as he burst into a fresh round of broken tears and fell into their empty arms.


	18. Chapter 18

_(A/N: Hey guys! Happy New Years! Not much to say here other then school has started up so updates might again be less frequent. I also need to fix an inconsistency in the story where Spinel said she wasn't around to see Rose. Spinel actually has been around for a long time and has a slightly significant part in the story. She's inspired by-I don't know who on this site HASN'T heard of the amazing "Tourmaline". If you haven't, go read it NOW. Anyway, Spinel is inspired by the precious little Howlite. And without further ado, here we go~)_

* * *

 _Steven heard a low, gentle hum, and felt his entire body rock and jostle. That didn't normally happen in Room, although the child had never slept in Room to know. "Room, stop moving things," the boy mumbled blearily. He yelped as the rocking turned into a violent jolt, that sent him tumbling off the plush cotton he had lay in, and onto a harder surface. Metal._

 _"Metal," Steven grunted as he rubbed his injured face. "Metal?" Blearily, he rubbed his eyes. They adjusted to the sight of a screen and doors, both green. Both...the color of... "Peridot!" the child gasped as he jumped to his feet. But there was no one else there._

 _He jerked around, and then he saw her. Covered in white hair, her strands dangling down past her face, and bunched up arms covered her eyes from view. She was completely still and quiet. "Jasper!" Steven gasped, moving to lunge towards her. A soft mutter stopped him._

 _"All my fault...it's...all my fault..." the gem mumbled, repeating the mantra over and over again. Steven's hands clasped to his mouth and his eyes filled with tears._

 _"NO!" Steven shouted and leaped into the gem's arms, clutching to her like his life depended on it. He grabbed at her face, trying to lift it from her arms. He shook her shoulders, he smacked at her head gently. "NO, it's not! None of it is your fault! Stop saying it! Jasper, it's me! IT'S STEVEN!"_

 _No response. It was no use. Steven was running out of options, but he wouldn't give up. Hastily, he lifted up his shirt. "This is gonna be weird, but bear with me!" He shoved the rose colored stone against the jasper on her face. The two gems glowed so brightly from the contact that they gave a bright, blinding flash and popped like two electrical wires shorting out. Jasper and Steven jerked back in surprise as their gems tingled._

 _A rose and orange colored holographic heart floated from each gem to hover above them both. "The Glint..." Steven whispered in awe and looked up. Surprised, tear filled eyes stared into his own._

 _"Kid?"_

 _With a sob, the child jumped into her arms and Jasper caught him. She clutched him close, large arms enveloping him fully and tucking him against her chest. "Oh Steven," she practically whimpered into him, choking out a sob into his dirty shirt. "I'm so sorry."_

 _"No," Steven sobbed. "I am. I left. It's not your fault. I-I never said anything."_

 _"But why?!" Jasper demanded, holding him at arm's length. "Why didn't you? Steven, why didn't you tell us that the old hag was after you again? We could have done something! We could have protected you!" Her lip trembled. "I promised to! Why'd you have to make me break a promise, huh?"_

 _"I'm sorry," the boy wept, burying into her again. Jasper's large arms rocked him back and forth. Her chest shuddered with sounds. "I'm really so sorry. I had to leave. I had to protect you guys. It was the only way. It was the only way I could save the earth." He scrubbed at his face. "I'm-I'm okay, I really am. I-I'm in my-my Mom's old room here and she hasn't h-hurt me."_

 _"For now." Jasper's nails dug into the boy's arms. "S-she's going to. She always does. We-we've gotta get you out of there."_

 _"You can't!" Steven shook his head. "If you do she'll hurt you. She'll hurt all of you. Y-you've gotta go back!"_

 _Jasper felt anger flare up. "We're not just going to sit here while you-"_

 _"That was our deal!" Steven wailed. "You stay there, she leaves earth alone. You come after me, she kills you all and then destroys the planet! I-I saw it! I saw what she has planned and all you have to make is one wrong move, and then earth is gone!"_

 _Jasper stared at his helpless looking face, her heart and hopes sinking. "You're too young to be makin' deals," she sniffled. "Gotta at least have a lawyer present." Steven choked out a laugh and then hugged her again._

 _As Jasper rocked them both back and forth, Steven felt his mind shifting. He could feel his grip on her and the world slipping. "I-I'm waking up."_

 _"No." Jasper held him tighter, bunching up her knees to trap him against her like she thought that might do something. "No, I won't let you!"_

 _"I gotta go, Jasper," Steven sniffled. Hie couldn't feel her grip anymore, even though it was as tight as it could be. "I gotta. And you—you gotta go back. I can't lose any of you!"_

 _Tears squeezed out of Jasper's tightly shut eyes. "But I can't lose_ you!"

 _"I'm sorry..." He couldn't see her anymore and began to fade._

 _"No, Steven! Steven, don't go!"_

 _The last thing he heard was her voice._

 _"We're gonna find you, you hear me? We're all gonna be together again!"_

* * *

Steven opened his eyes when he sighted some ripples in the rose colored sky. It was almost like someone was throwing a pebble into a pond of water. "What the..." The room dimmed slightly, for a brief moment. The ripples became more prominent.

The illusions of his family were still there with their arms up. Smiling statues. Steven closed his eyes. "Room, get rid of them." They disappeared in a puff of pink smoke. Steven crawled towards the door and slipped through the room. Spinel was at the door...repeatedly bonking her face against the rose quartz in the center of the door.

"What the heck are you doing?" Steven yelped, pulling the small chubby gem away by the shoulders. Her face was a darker shade of red from where the door had made contact. She rubbed her gem sheepishly.

"Er...I'm sorry, Steven. It...um...w-well...your mother's door prevents anyone not of the...Rose Quartz variety to enter..." She hid behind her clipboard. "I had to try to get your attention...somehow s-since the room reacts to intruding gems."

Steven gave an awkward laugh. "Uh...it's okay. But, is your gem okay?" He gently grabbed her face to look at the spinel. There was a scratch."You're hurt!"

"Oh, this?" She touched the crack. "O-oh, that's not new St...Steven! I-I've had it for quite a while now! It..." She shifted her feet. "It's kind of why I stutter s...sometimes. When the scratch happened Y-Yellow Diamond thought about throwing me o-out, but she decided that I could still f-function well enough to serve her!"

Steven frowned. "You gotta be careful. You don't want anymore." His healing powers were a hit and miss, and even if she was Yellow Diamond's errand dog, he didn't want to see her die.

"Oh it's fine, Steven." Spinel smiled. "If I were to shatter, I'm sure Yellow Diamond could order more spinels."

Steven frowned. "But that's not right! You can't just replace a gem!"

Spinel laughed. "Oh, uh, of course you can, Steven! We do it all the time if...if some of them shatter."

Steven clenched his fists. "But it's NOT..." Her confused dark eye looked up at him and he sighed. It was no use trying to talk sense into a gem that had been indoctrinated by Yellow Diamond all her life. "Never mind. Uh...so what are we doing today?"

Spinel flipped through her clipboard. "Oh, yes! Well, um...f...first thing is first. Her majesty requests that you reform into new attire, s...since, a star is a symbol of the Crystal Gems, which you are no longer a part of."

Steven stared at her blankly.

"Uh..." Spinel began to sweat. "You know...reform? Or, um...do you know the term regenerate...better? It's...when you go into your gem and...come back out."

"I don't know how to do that," the boy said, lifting up his shirt. "And since I'm only half gem...I don't think I even can. And I didn't bring a change of clothes with me."

Now it was Spinel's turn to look confused. "What are clothes?"

"It's what we wear on earth, but we buy them or make them." Steven shrugged. "Dad made me this shirt a really long time ago." He gave it a squeeze, almost as if he could feel his father's warmth through holding the fabric. "I don't have anything else to wear..." _And I don't want to wear anything else..._

Spinel tilted her head. "A...Dad? Well...um, this won't do. We'll have to make arrangements somehow. I'll bring it up to her majesty." She gave a small nervous smile to the child. "Well...come on then. I'll take you to the throne room."

Steven shrugged listlessly and followed along behind. Spinel only took a few steps before she stopped and looked back at the boy. "Oh...um, you have to walk in front of me. The advisers and servants are to follow behind r-royalty at all times..."

Steven scowled in disgust. "That's a stupid rule," he snapped, but did storm a few paces ahead in anger. "Besides, you're the one showing me stuff! It makes more sense that you'd be in front of me. I don't know where I'm going."

Spinel twiddled with her fingers nervously and just decided to change the subject. "You took a while to recharge. Humans seem to...waste a lot of time doing it."

Steven shrugged. "Well it's the way we were born to function. It's not our fault. We still get stuff done, we just do it in the day time."

They stepped on one of the discs and it let out a low hum as it lifted them into the air. Wobbling, Steven gripped the edges and watched as the corridor whizzed by them both. "This is nauseating. I don't think I'll ever get used to this."

The lift came to a stop in front of a floating holographic screen. It had in several indentations that looked as if they were meant for different types of gems. In the middle, the largest of the indentations was diamond shaped, and right beside it, smaller, was what looked like...the shape for a Rose Quartz.

"The throne room is st-strictly prohibited from anyone that hasn't been given...special rights to enter." Spinel slapped her hand against an octagon shape. "Like me! And since you are a Rose Quartz you have access." She giggled slightly. "W-well...obviously, as you are now Yellow Diamond's charge. Y-you'll likely have your own throne too! So just...place your gem against the right shape. It should work."

Steven hoisted himself up on his toes and lifted his shirt, pressing the pink stone into the shape it fit in. The stone began to glow vibrantly and a golden hue outlined the shape of a large square, floating in the middle of empty space in front of them. "What..."

"That's our cue." Spinel pressed her eye-gem against the panel and took Steven's hand, leading him inside. "Welcome, your highness, to the _Throne Room."_

Steven's eyes widened. "Whoa."

The room was bigger then Steven expected, bearing some similarities to the room Steven was sent to in one of his dreams. The floor was made of marble and so were the pillars holding it up. Glass-like golden stairs lead up to a floor with several thrones, each lined across the wall. The yellow one was turned around. Four thrones, each a certain color of what Steven presumed to be their respective owners.

A Blue Diamond, a White Diamond, a Pink Diamond, and of course, a Yellow Diamond... The pink throne had vines woven up around the arm rests. The white one had a backboard in the shape of angel wings.

The yellow throne turned around, hovering a few inches off the ground. Yellow Diamond sat there, clawed fingers gripping the edge of the arm rest in eager anticipation. "Ouu, welcome Prince Steven!" She clasped her hands together in joy. "So happy you've finally awoken." Her lip curled in disgust. "My, your species takes its sweet time recharging." Sharp, cat-like eyes narrowed in disdain at the sight of the boy's normal clothing. "And what is he still doing in that attire?"

Spinel shrunk three sizes into the ground and hid her face behind the clip board. "E-er, I'm...I told him, y-your majesty, but it seems he...he's unable to r-regenerate, or at least he isn't sure how. Apparently, humans use something called...c-clothes and he has none with him."

Yellow Diamond leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms and legs. "Hmm, seems simple enough. We'll bring him to the holo-chamber, but first, Prince Steven, why not check out your throne?"

The chair towered above the boy like a large building, so tall that Steven needed to hoist himself up to even reach the seat of the throne. It was so...tall. His feet didn't even begin to stick out over the seat, and didn't even go near the edge. He stretched his arms, but he could only place his palms on the arm rest. Spinel and Yellow Diamond watched him.

"Well...I suppose we can adjust it." Yellow Diamond waved her hand and scowled at Steven's neon pink shirt, like it was too disgusting to even look at. "Bring him to the holo-chamber, Spinel. Get rid of that repulsive thing."

Steven bared his teeth at her back and may have actually pounced on the old hag if Spinel didn't tap on his sleeve.

"Right this way, your majesty. The holo-chambers are down here." Spinel lead them towards another floating transportation disc. It zigzagged down the corridors until they came towards a warp pad. At first, Steven felt his hopes spark at the familiar sight...but they fell again when they didn't appear in his kitchen.

Steven's lip trembled as he fought valiantly not to start crying again and swallowed his disappointment.

"We're here." They stepped into a small chamber with a capsule shaped contraption. Light radiated from the top and bottom, the thing beeping and buzzing. A holographic screen floated in the air with an empty display screen. "The holo-chamber is used when we want to invent something new, and it's where we...preview what we want it to look like." She flicked her finger over one of the buttons and with a green light, a pixelated image came up on the display. And then it appeared in the chamber.

"Pearl, Spinel instructed a slender gem that had her back turned to them all. "Pull the lever please."

Steven saw the pale hair and didn't even stop to think and realize that what the Pearl wore was a yellow vest. He bolted towards her and wrapped his arms around her back. "Pearl!" When the gem whirled to him Steven realized this Pearl's hair was pointed up, almost like a diamond. Her blue eyes were blank, if not totally confused. Her uniform was a pale yellow, with a diamond...

"Um..." The Pearl shifted uncomfortably and looked down at the boy, whose grip was slowly sliding down her as he stepped back. He realized her pearl was on her chest. "Hello, your highness. Is there anything I can get for you?" Icy blue eyes looked down at him, familiar and still such a stranger.

"Uh..." Steven's throat felt thick as molasses. He turned around and wiped at the tears beginning to gather. "No, it's fine."

The Pearl and Spinel exchanged worried looks. "Is something wrong, your Highness?" Spinel asked the boy. "Do...do you not like your Pearl? U-um, if you don't w-we can simply get you another. It...it's no big deal!" Pearl's worried eyes darted from Spinel to Steven, obviously fearing the fate that could possibly await her if Homeworld's new "Prince" didn't deem her worthy.

"She's just fine!" Steven snapped. The tears made it hard for him to speak the rest of his sentence. "But she's not MY Pearl!" _She won't ever be my Pearl... No one can replace you, Pearl._ "She's not my servant."

Spinel looked even more confused. "B-but, ah...of course she is, your H-highness!" She smiled nervously. "That is her purpose after all."

The boy's fists clenched so tight his knuckles nearly turned white. "No, she's not!" His rage was growing. He couldn't stand this planet. He couldn't stand the _phony, manufactured FAKE in front of him!_ He couldn't stand Spinel, and he couldn't stand Yellow Diamond! "NO ONE SHOULD BE!"

Instead of responding, Steven was surprised to see his advisor cowering violently, her one burgundy eye wide with fear and fixated on his fist. Slowly, the boy unclenched it with a guilty curdle in his stomach. How often was _this_ gem hurt and hit by a fist?

He reached out and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry." Spinel flinched until she realized the touch was not meant to hurt, and then looked at him in confusion. He wiped his eyes and sighed, gazing up at the Pearl. If he refused her he didn't know what Yellow Diamond would do to her. "If you want you can help me. I won't refer to you as my servant, but...you can stay. I don't want to call you Pearl though."

The servant looked confused. "As you wish, your Highness. What will you call me then?"

Steven scrutinized the Homeworld gem, and noticed the sparkle her pearl had. Beautiful as Pearl's gem was, it didn't shine like this. "Your gem is so clear I could see my face in it if I was tall enough." He grinned.

"Pearls are required to always be at their best appearance," the Pearl said. "Sparkling, free of any scratches or dust—especially one owned by royalty."

"It's so glimmery...Glimmer, that's what I'll call you!" Steven grinned. She grimaced for a moment but quickly hid it. "That way I'd be able to tell you apart from other pearls and they won't all come running when I shout your name."

Glimmer nodded after a moment, and the slightest smile crossed her face. "Glimmer..." The smile grew. Gems never had their own names before. "...I think it'll do. I appreciate it. Thank you, your Highness."

"You're welcome..." An awkward silence ensued. "So..." Steven pointed to the chamber. "Back to this thing I guess?"

"Ah yes!" Spinel clapped her hands. "P-Pearl—uh Gl-Glimmer, pull the lever please?" Glimmer obediently strode over towards the machine and pressed a few buttons, pulling down a lever. The chamber flickered. Steven recoiled as a small, miniature version of Yellow Diamond's laser appeared, the pixels slowly rotating in front of his eyes.

"Oops!" Spinel slammed her hand against a button, face face flushing a deeper burgundy in embarrassment. "S-sorry. Er...we just recently finished the laser so it was on the screen. U-um...moving on!" She typed something into a glowing keyboard. The image of a uniform popped onto the screen.

It was a yellow tunic fastened with a cape and a lighter color diamond around the neck, and yellow pants. "Alright...this is only a hologram, so it won't actually be...r-real...um, clothing.. but it should be enough t-to satisfy Yellow Diamond. I hope. Step in when you're ready."

Steven eyed the humming contraption warily. Yellow beams shot through the chamber, the newly designed outfit rotating and flashing with pixels. He put one foot in hesitantly, and then stepped his entire body in. The chamber made a whirring noise and Steven felt a tickle that made him giggle as the hologram formed over him. The yellow tunic and diamond overtook his pink t-shirt. His sandals were replaced by high yellow boots. The cape, which he assumed was to signify his royalty, tumbled over his shoulders.

"Y-you look good, Steven!" Spinel chirped. Steven tried not to show his disgust for his uniform. After all, Spinel had designed it... "We should g...go tell her t-that you're all ready! And see if this is...adequate." She looked over at Glimmer. "Would you like to join us, Glimmer? I'm s-sure Steven would appreciate it. I'm sure you can...help us around!"

Steven stepped into the warp pad with the two gems and flickered into the throne room. Yellow Diamond eyed him patronizingly. "Hm...it'll do, I suppose. I appreciate the cape," she smirked. "Nice touch, Spinel." Spinel gave a timid bow.

"Can I go now?" Steven asked, in a hurry to get away from the old hag as quickly as he could. "Spinel and Glimmer were going to-"

" _Glimmer?"_ The giant stood up immediately. Her voice cut through them all like a knife and Steven instinctively stepped in front of his friends to protect them. Yellow Diamond stopped right at the boy, towering above him like a deadly sky scrapper. She was so tall she cast a shadow down the boy's entire body. "Who is _Glimmer?"_

Steven pointed bravely to the cowering Pearl. "She is Glimmer."

Yellow Diamond's claw reached out as quickly as an eagle's talon, reaching for the Pearl's chest. Steven was faster, and the royal's hand was knocked away violently by his summoned shield. He crouched in an attacking position, eyes burning defiantly as Glimmer's trembled in terror. Yellow Diamond stood stiff.

"Gems..." she finally hissed. "...don't _have_ names. And if any of them earned the right to one it certainly wouldn't be a shard as insignificant and low class as a _Pearl."_ She sneered in disgust at the Homeworld gem shaking behind the small child.

"Well this one does have a name," Steven said boldly. "I gave her one. And I remember you saying that I'm royalty now, and as royalty I should get to make this rule if I want to." Spinel and Glimmer stared at him in horror. Yellow Diamond however, gave an impressed smirk.

"I suppose you're right, Prince Steven." She turned and waved a hand dismissively. "I'll let you and your _Glimmer_ go off now. I have much to do, and there's still much Spinel still has to show you. Farewell, my charge." She disappeared in a flash of dazzling light.

Steven gave the empty air one last hateful look before he turned to Glimmer. "Are you okay?" he asked gently, putting a hand on her arm.

"I..I'm fine." Glimmer grazed a hand over her gem and looked at Steven in curiosity. "Wh...why did you do that? She could have hurt you."

"I can fight her off," Steven snorted. "Besides, I don't think she'd want anything to happen to 'Her Prince'. I didn't want her to hurt you. ...You didn't do anything wrong." He smiled gently up at her. Glimmer offered a shy one back.

"Thank you...your highness, for your generosity and mercy. Wh-what else can I do for you?"

Steven grinned. "How about you come with Spinel and me? She's still showing me around. You can help with that. And...call me Steven."

"Steven..." Glimmer smiled. "I-if you wish."

* * *

"How long until we get there? How long have we been travelling?!"

Peridot sighed and ran her hands down her face for what was likely the hundredth time since the trip had even began. "You keep asking that, Pearl. You've asked that at least twenty times in the past hour, and I keep. Telling you! It will not be. For a few more Days!" She brought up a navigation screen. "The worm hole I discovered only lessened the time increment by half. There's still a week that we have to travel."

The slim gem gave a loud sound of distress and covered her face with a whimper. Amethyst sat behind her in one of the seats, loudly munching on a bag of chips. Her stress eating had accumulated at least fifteen bags already, that were starting to grow into a large pile beside her.

"Oh how can you even eat at a time like this?" Pearl snapped.

"I EAT MORE WHEN I'M UPSET!"

Pearl groaned loudly and sunk next to Garnet. "I can't take much more of this. Can you?" Garnet wasn't looking at her. Pearl noticed that she was staring at Jasper. Jasper who hadn't moved an inch since Peridot had finally managed to drag her onto the vessel. "Oh..." She winced a little. "Right...her." She felt her previous anger with the gem melt into concern...and guilt. "...Do you think she's okay?"

Garnet shook her head slowly.

"Do you think...we were right about everything we said?" Pearl didn't even need an answer to that. She knew they weren't. Maybe Peridot and Jasper deserved a bit of a lecture for leaving Steven unattended for so long...but not everything they had thrown at them. They told them it was all their fault. ...She pretty much told them both she should have left them for dead.

And Pearl didn't need to ask her leader to know what was expected of her. She planned on doing it anyway...if she finally summoned the nerve. Standing up next to Garnet, the small gem slowly made her way over to the back of the ship. Jasper had her back turned to her. Lapis had been standing on the opposite wall, keeping vigilant over the broken gem. She cast Pearl a worried glance and stepped away.

"Jasper...?" Pearl began quietly. "Are you alright?" The giant gem didn't turn to her. "I'm sorry." Jasper didn't respond, but her shoulders did shift in surprise slightly. Pearl quietly sat down next to her.

"...You're not the one that should be sorry," the large gem finally mumbled to Pearl's surprise. "I promised I'd protect him. I should have been there when the wrench reared her ugly face. If I was I could have gotten rid of her before she tried to make deals with him."

"...Not necessarily," Pearl said quietly. "If Steven really wants to keep a secret he knows how... He could have just as easily not told you about what she said, even if you had been there. ...I don't think this was possible to avoid. Even Garnet's Future Vision wouldn't be able to prevent this. Steven is a determined boy...He lives for his family and friends. He wants to be a hero and this is the best way he thinks he can protect earth."

"But he shouldn't be doing it alone!" Jasper growled, feeling tears threaten to appear. "He's just a little kid! He can't hold his own against her." She rammed her fist into the wall, creating an impressive hole.

"CAREFUL!" Peridot yelled from the front of the ship. "We want this vessel to be in one piece to get there and back!?"

"And I've already gotta unleash a world of pain on the bitch for what she did to me and Peridot!" she snarled. Pearl was at least relieved to see the Jasper they knew come back.

"And I'm sure you'll get the chance. We'll all inflict our own personal hurt on that woman when we get a chance to." Pearl grinned ruefully, slapping her fist into her palm. Jasper did the same, a small smirk appearing at the thought of blood shed. "There's a few things I have in mind."

"First," Amethyst cut in, with a mouthful of doritos. "I'm gonna shove these empty bags of chips down her throat! Then while she's choking on that, SHE CAN CHOKE ON MY WHIP TOO!" She cheered. "What about you, water nymph?"

Lapis leaned back against the wall. "There's a few tempting ideas. Someone will need to restrain her while you all torture her. I guess that should fall to me?" She grinned maliciously. "I don't mind that job. What about you, Peri?"

Peridot huffed. "Well, I'll probably be warming the vessel's engines, because it appears I'm the only one THAT REMEMBERS WHAT WE'RE GOING THERE FOR? Our mission is to retrieve Steven. As wonderful as smashing that yellow clod sounds, rescuing Steven should be our first objective. We should make sure he's safe and secure before we do any...mauling."

"Peridot's right, Gems," Garnet said, somewhat sternly. "And Pearl, Amethyst...let's not forget what Rose taught us. I know how bad we all want to make that yellow witch suffer...but Rose would want mercy. The Crystal Gems don't torture... If it comes down to it, we eliminate, we go home. That's all. We want this mission done as fast as we can."

The rest of her party didn't look particularly enthused at the idea there would be no mauling and mutilation, but they nodded in bored agreement. Garnet made her way to the window of the ship. An array of stars and planets scattered through the galaxies, and out in the distance, Garnet saw the one they were aiming for.

"Don't worry Steven...we'll be there soon."


	19. Chapter 19

_(A/N: I am on a writing roll lately. Which probably isn't good, as I'm in college...I should be on a drawing roll. Anyway, it was hard not to write with these past episodes being SO GOOD HOT DAMN. Peridot, my baby, I knew you'd come through. Now we just need Jasper and Lapis next, and then we got the official Shattered Realities family. C: IT'S GONNA HAPPEN DON'T DESTROY MY DREAMS._

 _Also, a few of you have discovered the implied relationship between Steven and Yellow Diamond and you are right. Even though there is no such thing as the term "Mother" on Homeworld, nor do they even know what it is, her being a Queen and Steven being a Prince is kinda...the earth equivalent. Creepy? Good cause it's supposed to be! Maybe YD should be taking some "Mommy and Me" classes to improve their relationship.)_

* * *

 _"Steven..." came an almost other-wordly mumble from somewhere in the vicinity. "Steven..." It carried through the pink skies of the room. Or, what Steven thought was the room. He could never be too sure. The wind carried through the sky, and so did the being's voice._

 _"What's going on?" Steven groaned. He sat up and looked around. He expected to be in the ship again, but he still couldn't recognize the voice reverberating. Sadly, Jasper was nowhere in sight this time. The room had begun to ripple. The sky looked like a wide screen with a bad signal. Steven could tell a picture was trying to appear._

 _"I'm glad you can hear me. I've been trying to reach you for so long..."_

 _"What?" Steven jolted up, stunned. He squinted hard, trying to make sense of the voice. It sounded like his mother, but it was...deeper then hers was, and more powerful. It had a strong ring to it. There was no one in sight. "What are you...talking about? Who are you, and what do you want?"_

 _"I have to show you something."_

 _The jumble of moving colors suddenly became clear and Steven realized what he was looking at. Among the screams of pain and battle, the leaping flames, and the electric, hot buzz of lasers, he knew he was looking at the war. Tears rimmed the edge of his eyelids and he shook his head. "Oh..."_

 _A carriage towered over the luscious green land, blue, with curtains tumbling to the ground below. It was as tall as Yellow Diamond's...perhaps even taller. "Rose Quartz..."_

 _There his mother stood. Her brilliant pink curls were tangled and matted with dirt and sweat. The white frills of her dress were blackened and teared. Murder set in her eyes...but more then that...there was sadness._

 _"Blue Diamond...I'm surprised you're hiding your face behind those curtains like a coward. It's not like you. You'd face me head on normally."_

 _The face from behind the curtain seemed to be sneering. "And it's not like you Rose, to turn on the colony you were always so loyal to. And so it appears we both have changed."_

 _Anger drained from Rose's face. She gave a swallow and a few composing breaths to stave off approaching tears. "It appears we have. You told me that we could talk about this. You agreed to listen to what I had to say! You said I could appeal on behalf of this planet!"_

 _The curtain didn't move and Blue's voice remained cold as ever. "That decision was overruled. You will be punished on the way you betrayed your planet. There will be no negotiations."_

 _Rose let a single tear slip. She withdrew her sword from her scabbard and pointed it threateningly at the other gem. "Leave this planet at once. I am not afraid to fight you, Blue."_

 _"Stop! No more!" Steven exclaimed, clasping his hands to his eyes. "Why are you showing me this? I don't want to see the war! I don't want to see gems dying—ever! I'm already dealing with enough! What's wrong with you?!"_

 _"You need to know the truth!"_

 _"What truth? What's the truth?"_

* * *

A vibration was what woke Steven from the haze. That and a crippling headache. The images faded along with the voice. He was in his old room...or at least, a perfect rendition of it that the room had created. The bed felt as soft. Golden sunlight poured through the window in his bedroom. The only thing missing was the voices he'd hear downstairs, and the scent of pancakes... Would pancakes ever be good right now...

His bed continued to vibrate and the sky continued to ripple. It didn't take a genius to know that someone-hopefully Spinel-was trying to get his attention somehow again. He threw off his quilt and rubbed his weary eyes. His thoughts were racing. Who was it that talked to him in the dream, and why did she want to show him the war?

 _I guess it's someone on Homeworld that wants their new 'Prince' to know all about gem history and how bad Mom was, and how GREAT the Diamonds are..._ the boy thought bitterly. He was far too exhausted and broken to bother wondering on what was possibly the most important question right now: Who was that?

"Well..." Staring down listlessly at his Homeworld attire and casting one long mournful glance to his bedroom, Steven started to the door. "Right back to the land of chaos..." It felt like he was carrying sandbags on his ankles. The world spun with every movement.

The sounds of birds chirping and the ocean ambiance Room had created was replaced by the mechanical sounds of lifters and computers...and Spinel.

"I told you to stop that!" Steven yelped, pulling the small gem's face away from the door. "You're really gonna hurt your gem." He smiled awkwardly at her. "We've gotta figure out some way for you to get my attention without nearly breaking yourself in the process."

Spinel rubbed her gem and smiled. "I hope you had a good recharging. H-her Majesty is requesting you out by the vessels. Yo-you're going to be exploring outside the castle today, Steven!" The child looked incredibly unenthusiastic and Spinel quickly picked up on it. "Are you alright?"

"I'm great." As good as any child ripped from their home planet surrounded by genocidal aliens, and currently slowly dying from starving would be. "I'm hungry though." His stomach growled and the hollow ache Steven felt reminded him he hadn't eaten in almost a week. He hadn't even wanted to eat, but now basic human functions were becoming far too hard to ignore. Anything he tried to ingest in Room hardly felt filling. That was probably because it wasn't even real.

"What does...hungry mean?" Glimmer asked, tilting her head to the side.

"It's what humans do to keep our energy up," Steven said, rubbing his neglected stomach. "We eat things. If we don't we die. So in gem terms...I'd shatter, I guess."

"Shatter!" Spinel yelped. "Oh n-no! That's not acceptable! W-we can't have that happen to you!" Her eye shone like it might start to tear up. "We'll inform Her Majesty about this right away!" This time she seemed to have no problem abandoning the 'walk behind the monarch rule' as she dragged Steven towards one of the lifts.

Steven was surprised with how panicked both gems seemed to be. He supposed they would be though with their Prince not in good health. ...But the more he looked at the fear on their faces, the more he realized how similar it was to the gems when he was ill.

"Hey, guys," Steven said gently to both of them. "It's okay. I'm not gonna die right away, I just need some food and water. I'll be fine. You guys have...something to eat here right?"

"I...I don't know," Spinel admitted. "Gems don't require s-sustenance so we may not."

The lift went higher then any of the ones in the corridor, shooting up into the air. Spinel and Glimmer had to keep Steven balanced. The boy was losing his coordination so quickly. Everything he had tried to eat in Room didn't seem to be sustaining him at all. He looked sicker by the moment.

The sky was filled with streams of light echoing from every direction and wrapping around the planet. Gems flew through them from warp pad to warp pad. Those that didn't used the lifts they were flying through the streams right now.

"Your Majesty!" Spinel shouted as she sprawled off the disc once they had landed. Glimmer was holding up Steven. Yellow Diamond's eyes narrowed sharply.

"What's this?"

"Your Majesty! It-it-it's his...Highness, M-Ma'm!" Spinel spilled out, fighting back tears. "He's...not well! He says he requires f-food! Apparently it's a type of e-essential n-nutrient that h-his kind needs!"

"Food?" Yellow Diamond glared quizzically at the child and started shouting orders at Spinel. Her words were getting harder to hear as Steven felt his senses fading.

 _Shoulda done more research before you decided to adopt a human..._ was Steven's final thought before everything went black.

* * *

Steven felt fingers pull apart his lips gently as something flooded into his mouth. It was tepid and tasted slightly metallic, but already the boy could feel some of the life returning to his body. He parted his lips. "Water."

There was a huge relieved sigh and a familiar voice. "Oh thank goodness... Th-this is what it looked like in the picture. So I was right!"

Steven's eyes began to slowly focus into his surroundings. The first thing he saw was Spinel, standing there with a bucket of water sloshing in her hands. Glimmer was off to the side, drawing a yellow laser through the flesh of some gross serpent looking creature that had obviously just been killed. And of course there was Yellow Diamond sitting in front of him as well. Even sitting she was monstrously huge.

"Is the gem serpent almost finished, Pearl?" Yellow Diamond asked the small Pearl at her side. "Feed the Prince before I use you as his sustenance instead!" Glimmer hurriedly rushed over with the cooked corpse.

"Is this s-suitable?" Spinel asked meekly as she held up the cooked serpent to Steven. "I had enough d-documentation on earth to search up wh-what we could feed you that's here and it...said m-meat was accept-" She didn't even get a chance to finish her sentence as the hungry Steven ripped into the serpent. He was too hungry to think about its dead eyes staring at him or the disgusting taste of rock as he ripped apart the snake. Homeworld had drained some of his compassion anyway.

"W-wow..." Spinel slowly smiled. "I guess it is then." She took the empty holographic plate and dispersed it into pixels once the boy was finished. "It's c-certainly good that we're in an area that has these creatures, h-huh, Your Majesty?"

Yellow Diamond looked coldly at her advisor and the Pearl. "Away with you both. Busy yourself on the ship and set the coordinates. I'm sure the Prince doesn't want to be bothered with your company."

Steven glared at her with all the hatred he had in him. "I prefer their company more then yours."

Yellow Diamond ignored the insult. "And how are you feeling now? How often does this...eating...thing need to happen?" she asked, her scowl easily showing her disgust. "It seems like an inconvenience."

"It should happen three times a day, but I'm fine with just once," Steven muttered. Yellow Diamond snorted.

"It baffles me that your mother chose such an inferior species to mate with. At the very least there are more out there in the universe that are worth it."

Anger like nothing else Steven had ever felt before burned deep in him. He could feel his gem flashing with his and his mother's rage from the insult. "Don't you _DARE_..." He stood up abruptly. "Talk about my Dad like that!" The action caused his legs to buckle, and the very world to start spinning again. Yellow Diamond was easily able to catch his entire body in one claw. Steven was so tired that he sagged against her chest.

"Be careful, child," she scoffed. "You looked seconds away from crumbling to dust earlier. You might want to take it easy." She crossed her arms. "I should have considered that you being a hybrid species would factor in all the weaknesses a human has." She looked repulsed.

"Y-your Majesty," Spinel piped up quietly. "Perhaps w-we should wait until H-his Highness is feeling better to do this."

Yellow Diamond carelessly shoved Steven into Spinel's arms. "As long as he's conscious and aware, I see no reason to put it off."

The ship lowered and the engines gave a hard screech as they came to a stop. Spinel and Glimmer both stepped down the lift, holding Homeworld's prince. Steven couldn't help but absorb the close and affectionate touch by his new friends. It felt like it had been so long since someone held him.

"Don't worry Prince, we won't be doing much today—in reference to your health. But I wanted to show you one of our first projects." The landscape was a vast stretch of barren land. Serpents slithered about but other then that it seemed to be the only life on the land. "This is where we're going to build our new colony. Blue Diamond began it, but sadly she never got to complete it."

Steven's eyes snapped open and he wriggled out of Spinel's arms. His feet shifted as he lost his balance, but he held strong and kept standing. "Blue Diamond?"

"Yes." Yellow Diamond smiled. "She was a member of the Diamond Authority, and governed a separate part of the planet and the first colony created. White Diamond was the main governor, the head of Homeworld. When she was shattered and Blue Diamond went missing I took on the main, heavy task of leading our broken planet." Her eyes fell heavy with sadness, but something in her expression...made Steven question the genuineness.

"How does a Diamond just disappear? You never bothered to even look for her?" He squinted his eyes, suspicious. "That seems a bit...strange."

Yellow Diamond glanced sharply down at him. "The most important thing was keeping the colonies on track," she said coldly. "A planet without a governor descends into complete chaos. Rose Quartz was in line to govern next; her healing abilities were something that came once every 1000 years, if that. We lost her, and we lost White. I couldn't afford to have Blue Diamond's search my main mission. But if you must know, Spinel did send out search parties for her. We never located her."

Steven's footsteps began to grow heavy as exhaustion settled in again. When it did he fell back into Glimmer's arms. It was hard to keep his eyes open. One meal and a drink didn't make up for nearly a week's worth of starvation. That nagging voice from his dream echoed in the back of his head...

 _You need to know the truth..._ What was the truth? The more Steven thought about Blue Diamond's mysterious disappearance, the more he had to wonder if...was that her that was trying to contact him?

 _"You told me that we could talk about this. You agreed to listen to what I had to say! You said I could appeal on behalf of this planet!"_

What had changed her mind?

"You guys are so advanced here, didn't you have any way to contact her?" Steven pressed. "I thought you all had built in communications into your gems."

"Not quite." Yellow Diamond smirked. "There is the Diamond communication line that we all used on separate planets, but she never attempted to contact it." She shrugged. "After this long I can only imagine she's met an untimely demise. Or perhaps one of your Crystal Gems captured her in the war like they did many of my soldiers. One you'd know. Your Lapis Lazuli."

Steven's fists clenched, anger making his strength return. "I don't believe you. I've seen the way you brainwash other gems. Who knows how many you've experimented on besides our Jasper?! You're not to be trusted."

Finally it seemed all his nettling had riled the monarch as she grabbed his cheeks fiercely in her clawed hands, golden eyes searing into his soul. "Everything I do..."she hissed softly. _"Is for the good. Of the future."_

Steven wriggled her off. "The good of your future," he said, meeting her fierce gaze. "I bet you haven't even asked if this is what everyone else wants."

"You know nothing about governing a planet," she hissed. "And nothing about our kind. They're feeble minded _gems._ They don't know anything about what's best for us, and you don't either, Steven. Don't forget your authority here does not surpass _me."_

Steven bared his teeth. "Maybe not, but when I do govern my own colony, I'll make the rules! And they'll be better off then anything you ever do. For everybody!"

Yellow Diamond looked amused. "I wish you luck on that, child." They came to a stop near a spiralled blue staircase, leading up to a large pillar in the center of the planet. "You can do that sooner then you think."

Steven stared up at her. "What?"

"This is your first mission. You will create this planet's Kindergarden and start a new colony. You will govern Blue Diamond's planet. You will do this with your advisor and your servant. Spinel knows all about creating colonies. She will teach you what you'll be doing." She summoned a floating yellow screen that held the planet's database. "I will see if this planet has anything that will be of use to us while we prepare for its destruction." She turned and made her way back to the ship.

Glimmer gently set Steven down, still keeping a hold under his arms. "Are you okay to stand, Steven?"

"I'm fine." The boy stood unsteadily, the queasiness his head felt no match for the turmoil his stomach was in. "Spinel, how do you know so much about governing planets? How long have you worked alongside Yellow Diamond?"

Spinel blinked. "Oh, well, a v-very long time." She smiled and her eyes suddenly had a sparkle Steven had never seen before. "I was once the advisor...of the entire Diamond Authority, and the partner of Blue Diamond..." Her face fell. "She was...quite different from Y-Yellow Diamond. Easier to talk to a-and negotiate with. D-didn't hurt me as much. O-or ever." She looked even sadder and stepped away from Steven.

"I...I'll admit...I was q-quite metaphorically br-broken when we lost her. Sh-she treated me more of a part-partner then a servant. My f-feelings run deeper f-for Blue Diamond th-then I could ever say. Spinels are co-considered throw-aways. We can't d-do as much as other gems can, but...th-that never mattered to White and Blue. Blue especially. We have a different power th-then most gems do. It isn't very useful." Her one magenta eye filled with a tear.

"I know H-Her Majesty has w-wanted to throw me a-away for a long time, and just kept me because I kn-know more about the Diamonds then anyone else. Sh-she probably wanted to throw me away even more a-after I got my stutter. She gets angry w-with me if I take too long to get...a sentence out."

Spinel wiped her eyes and straightened after a moment. "B-but I know she works h-hard for all of us! She's just...under a lot of stress r-right now! We should make her job as easy as-as we can!"

She climbed the blue spiralled stairs and typed something into the floating keyboard. A large hologram filled the sky around them, showing what the planet would look like at completion. "All we have to do is drill into the core and rid the planet of any life it has." She looked over when she noticed tears building in Steven's eyes."It's alright, Steven," Spinel assured him, patting his back. "I promise that before we...we destroy this planet we'll harvest enough serpents to breed back in Homeworld for your feeding!"

"It's not that!" Steven pushed her hand away. "I don't want to govern a planet!" He sobbed. "I'm only a kid, I'm not even allowed near a blow torch! I don't want to do any of this!"

Glimmer and Spinel exchanged worried glances. "But you...you would be helping your planet," Glimmer said gently.

"THIS ISN'T MY PLANET!" he roared, effectively shutting them both up. "This isn't my home! My planet is earth! My family is on earth! My friends! My house! Even my own BED! It's all on earth!" He completely broke down, falling into the dirt. He was so tired, he was so hungry, he was so homesick. "I just want to go HOME! I didn't ask for any of this! I didn't ask to come here! I didn't ask for...gross, slimy...snakes to eat! I didn't ASK for a creepy yellow giant to ADOPT me as her Prince! I didn't ask for a servant or an adviser! I just wanna go hoooome!"

The two gems were at a loss of what to do as their small leader broke down into uncontrollable sobbing into the dirt. They exchanged worried glances and Spinel hesitantly made her way forward.

"I...I know wh-what you mean," the gem whispered softly, putting a hand on the boy's shoulder. "W-well maybe...not exactly what you mean...but...no one here a-asks for anything th-that we do. And..." She shifted uncomfortably. "Honestly...I really didn't ask to have...her...as my partner." Steven looked up through his tears.

"Like...I mean, I r-really, REALLY didn't ask to serve her," Spinel whispered very softly. "I m-miss my old Diamond and I-I've been waiting...th-thousands of years to-to serve someone as n-nice as you."

Glimmer smiled at the boy and very hesitantly put her hand over Spinel's, on the child. "I've never had my own name. I've never had anyone that would protect me from Yellow Diamond." Steven just stared at them through his teary eyes.

"We may not...have...all n-necessarily wanted where we're at now," Spinel said gently. "B...but...Glimmer and I will do our b...best to make your time here a-as happy as we can."

Tears further filled Steven's eyes but they were for a different reason. He reached out and brought both gems into a tight embrace. "Thank you..." he whispered. The two only waited a second before returning the gesture.

* * *

Yellow Diamond was interrupted through her reports to have an emergency call beep in. "This better be important," the royal hissed, turning to her own Pearl. "Send them through."

Through the static and noise, one of Yellow Diamond's Topaz guards could be seen through the monitor.

"Your Majesty, I apologize for the intrusion and the terrible signal of this call...damn thing!" A punch and the screen became slightly clearer. "I'm reporting from the prison cells! We caught some rogue gems we thought might be of interest to you." Topaz stepped aside and there behind the gem proof barriers were the exact prisoners she was hoping to see. All seven of them.

"We're here, you pee colored tyrant!" Lapis yelled, shaking her fist at the woman. "And we're bringing back our Steven!" Jasper kicked and punched at the cell like an angry convict.

"Remember me, Your _Grace?_ " Jasper sneered up at her former leader. "I'm here to beat your face in on behalf of me and every other gem you've betrayed!"

"PREPARE TO BE SHATTERED, CLOD!"

"We are going to destroy you on behalf of our little boy you took and the thousands of years of pain you have caused us!" Pearl snarled. Ruby and Sapphire said nothing, but the red gem banged her gauntlets together with a furious screech.

"Why do you even NEED that much eyeliner!" Amethyst roared.

Yellow Diamond merely smirked. "Hm...things just got a little more interesting."


End file.
